Witnesses describe seeing a man running towards the entrance of a police station before "two or three" gunshots rang out.
A man shot dead outside a police station in northern Paris may have been wearing a suicide vest, it has been reported.
Police union sources told Reuters the man attempted to enter the building with a knife before he was shot by officers, while Le Parisien reported that he was wearing an explosives vest.
Anna Polonyi, an editor with the International New York Times, posted a picture of a bomb disposal robot apparently being used to inspect the man's body.
She said the man had been running towards the building when he was shot at around 12pm local time (11am UK time).
Residents near the scene in Rue de la Goutte d'Or in the 18th arrondissement were told to shut their windows and keep off their balconies.
Pictures posted on social media showed a man in jeans and a grey jacket lying with his arms out at his sides on the pavement, yards from the entrance to the police station.
