PARIS, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- Amid rains, French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday presided over a ceremony to pay tribute to four police officers killed by their colleague inside Paris police headquarters last Thursday.
Draped in the French flag, the caskets of the four victims were carried by fellow officers in the police prefecture's courtyard.
Addressing a gathering of government ministers, police staff and the families of the victims, Macron said "seven minutes were enough to plunge Paris police headquarters into one of the most painful dramas of its history, and France in stupor and misunderstanding."
A 45-year-old IT assistant expert in the intelligence service, stabbed to death three police officers and one female administrative employee inside the building before he was shot dead by another officer last Thursday.
Investigators found a USB key containing details on many of his colleagues and several propaganda videos from the Islamic State (IS) group. They also revealed that the attacker, converted to Islam, had been radicalized and had contact with Salafist groups.
Macron said it was "inconceivable and unacceptable" that the assailant, who had worked for the police since 2003, managed to carry out an attack "in the very place where we pursue terrorists and criminals."
"We will wage a relentless fight in the face of Islamist terrorism. But this is in no way a fight against a religion but against its distortion which leads to terrorism," he added.
With the aim, the head of state called to build "a society of vigilance" to avoid that "these little things become big tragedies."
