Story highlights
- The man apparently claimed he was Moroccan last year, but a note points to a different ID, a prosecutor says
- Police shot and killed the man, who was wielding a knife, after he tried to enter a Paris police station Thursday, authorities say
- Officials: The man shouted "Allahu akbar," wore a fake explosive device and had a printout of an ISIS flag
(CNN)Even the fingerprints aren't telling the whole story: Investigators still are trying to determine the identity of a knife-wielding man who Paris police shot dead this week on the anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo attacks, with evidence giving conflicting clues, Paris' prosecutor said Friday.
The man was shot Thursday as he attempted to enter a police station in the northern Paris neighborhood of Barbes, bearing a butcher knife, yelling "Allahu akbar" and carrying a fake explosive device, authorities said.
An image of the ISIS flag, printed on paper, was found on the man's body, along with a handwritten note in Arabic from him claiming responsibility for the attack and pledging allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Paris prosecutor's office said in a statement.
But the note and other evidence are pointing to conflicting information about the man's identity, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins told radio station France Inter on Friday.
Did Paris attack orders come from Belgian operatives? 01:42
His fingerprints match those of a man who had an unspecified encounter with police in southern France last year, Molins said. In that encounter, he provided a certain name and claimed to be Moroccan.
Yet the note found on the man claims he is a Tunisian national, Molins said. And he had a phone with a German SIM card.
"We still need to determine his identification. ... Our investigators are working on all these elements," Molins told France Inter.
Investigators also don't know whether any group directed him to what he did Thursday.
The attempted attack took place at 11:30 a.m., the Paris prosecutor's office said -- a year to the minute since the Charlie Hebdo killings, the first of a spate of deadly jihadist attacks that have roiled the French capital over the past 12 months.
In those attacks, two gunmen killed 12 people at the offices of the French satirical magazine, which had angered Islamists for its irreverent approach to Islam and publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.
A look back at France's year of terror 04:17
Two more attacks -- one against a police officer and another that included a hostage-taking at a kosher supermarket -- brought the final death toll to 17.
On high alert against the jihadist threat since then, France suffered an even greater blow on November 13, when 130 people were killed in Paris in coordinated attacks on a concert hall, bars, restaurants and a sports stadium. ISIS claimed responsibility.
Afterward, French President Francois Hollande declared that the country was at war with the terror group and set about strengthening international efforts to strike ISIS on territory it controls in Syria and Iraq.
Speculation over motive
After Thursday's shooting, there was heavy security near the police station in Goutte D'Or in the 18th arrondissement.
Charlie Hebdo editor reflects on France's year of terror 00:56
Parisians, already wary on a highly sensitive anniversary, were left to speculate about the attacker's motivations: whether he was a lone wolf, a disturbed person or possibly the first wave of the kind of coordinated attacks that struck in November.
Terrorism expert Jean-Charles Brisard, president of the Center for Analysis of Terrorism, noted the attack occurred in the 18th arrondissement, which could have a symbolic connection to the ISIS-claimed November attacks.
The terror group's claim of responsibility for those killings referred to an operation in the 18th arrondissement, but none occurred there. That statement, along with a reference to eight attackers when there had been only seven, led to speculation that an eighth jihadist had planned an attack in the district but backed out.
Charlie Hebdo editor and cartoonist Stephane Charbonnier, known as Charb, was among the 12 people killed in a terror attack Wednesday, January 7, at the magazine's offices in Paris. On January 9, four hostages were killed when a gunman seized a Jewish grocery store and killed them before police moved in.
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Jean Cabut, also known as Cabu, was one of the well-known Charlie Hebdo cartoonists killed in the attack. London's Daily Mail described him as "an almost legendary cultural figure in France."
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Cartoonist Georges Wolinski, 80, was a political cartoonist. "He was a great satirical artist," said Mexican cartoonist Felipe Galindo, a friend of Wolinski, who once presented him with an award. "Nothing was sacred for him. He would touch anything. But he was also a very gentle, very kind man."
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Cartoonist Bernard Verlhac, also known as Tignous, was a man "who enjoyed freedom to its fullest in his artistic creativity and published his cartoons without fear," said Ecuadorian cartoonist Xavier Bonilla.
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Economist Bernard Maris was among the magazine's contributors. He wrote about economic issues under the byline of "Oncle Bernard," contributed to mainstream broadcasts and taught at Université Paris 8, the Globe and Mail reported.
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Cartoonist Philippe Honoré, also known as Honoré, was born in wartime France, in Vichy in 1941.
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Michel Renaud was a visitor at the newspaper office. He was known for his work on the cultural life of Clermont-Ferrand and held several positions in the municipality, France 3 Auvergne reported.
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Elsa Cayat, the only woman killed in the newspaper attack, was a psychoanalyst and twice-monthly columnist for the paper.
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Ahmed Merabet was a member of the 11th arrondissement police force that pursued the attacker of the newspaper office. Merabet was Muslim, his brother Malek told reporters. "He was killed by false Muslims," the brother said. "Islam is a safe religion."
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Yoav Hattab, 21, one of the four hostages killed at the kosher grocery on January 9. He was the son of the chief rabbi of Tunis, Tunisia, JSSNews reported.
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Yohan Cohen was a 22-year-old student, according JSSNews and a French news outlet. He liked rap, particularly French rapper Booba.
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Philippe Braham was in his 40s, and no further details were immediately available, JSSNews reported.
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François-Michel Saada, 63, was a retired senior executive, according to French news outlets RTL and Agence-France Press.
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Regis Le Sommier, co-editor of Paris Match magazine, said he was inclined to think the latest attack was self-directed, rather than coordinated by the central command of ISIS or another terror group, since it took place on the anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo assault.
Since 9/11, he said, jihadists had not shown any particular interest in striking on the anniversaries of terror attacks despite the sensitivities around the dates. "That probably makes me think that he decided to do it on his own," he told CNN.
