Paris police shoot man dead after knife rampage in park

French police shot dead a man near Paris on Friday after he went on the rampage with a knife in a park, killing one person and seriously wounding two more, a prosecutor said.

The attack happened in the suburb of Villejuif, about 8km south of central Paris.

Police cordoned off the area around the park, and the deputy head of the French interior ministry was at the scene talking to police officers.

The two injured victims are being treated in nearby hospitals, Laure Beccuau, the prosecutor whose office is handling the case, told reporters.

She said witnesses were being interviewed to establish what happened. She declined to disclose details about the attacker.

Police union official Yves Lefebvre said officers fired repeatedly because they feared the man was wearing an explosive belt and might blow himself up, the Associated Press reports.

It's unclear if the attacker was actually wearing an explosives vest, with no confirmation from authorities.

In the past four years, the French capital has been rocked by major attacks resulting in mass casualties.

In October last year, four people were stabbed to death at the Paris police headquarters by Mickael Harpon, an IT specialist working for the police. Prosecutors said that attacker, who was shot dead by police, had come under the sway of radical Islamists.

Mayor of L'Haÿ-les-Roses, Vincent Jeanbrun told broadcaster BFM-TV that the attacker assaulted people in a park in Villejuif, then fled to a shopping centre in his area, L'Hay-les-Roses, and was shot by police there.

"My first reaction is to congratulate the police who have been extremely reactive. All my thoughts are with the victims. I arrive on the spot and there is a lot of worry and amazement, to say to yourself: it can happen anywhere and at any time," he said.

Authorities remain at the scene and are urging locals to avoid the area. A motive for the attack is still unclear.