Nancy Soderberg, a former US ambassador to the United Nations, was among almost 1,000 tourists and worshippers inside the cathedral, admiring its French gothic architecture and stained-glass windows.
A witness said he heard someone "shout very loudly". Thankfully, we were all safe.
Karine Dalle, a spokeswoman for the Paris diocese, told BFM TV 900 people were still inside the cathedral as police secured the area. Everyone is calling me to say, 'We can't believe it. "It's nearly in slow motion".
France has been under a state of emergency since the 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris that killed 130 people.
The Paris prosecutor's office immediately began a counterterrorism investigation. The attacker's condition was being evaluated.
Seconds earlier, the unnamed attacker had swung his hammer at a police officer guarding the site, landing a blow.
Collomb said the assailant also possessed kitchen knives, an indication of a trend from "very sophisticated" acts of terrorism to "whatever tools or instruments they can find".
Authorities have not released the name of the suspect but said he was carrying identification that showed he is an Algerian student.
She said police had sectioned off an area around the cathedral and down the street.
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Police spokeswoman Johanna Primevert tells The Associated Press that the intervention is over.
The incident happened around 4:30pm.
Large numbers of police cars filled the area on the Ile de Cite island in the River Seine in the center of Paris.
Police warned the public to stay away from the landmark, according to Reuters.
Police officers install a security parameter outside Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, June, 6, 2017.
The video pledging allegiance to the jihadist group was found in a police search of an apartment he was renting in Cergy outside Paris, the source in the investigation said.
American tourist Lawrence Langner, 73, told AP that he suddenly heard a commotion and two detonations like gunshots. Looking down from his office, he saw a man inert on the square. The nephew said the uncle seemed "a little bit alone" when he last phoned three weeks ago to get family news. "I was scared, I thought it was a bomb", said Juan, a Mexican in his 50s.
Soderberg said those inside the cathedral remained calm and orderly throughout, despite not knowing what was happening.
"From what I know of his personality, though we haven't been in contact for a while, this leaves me completely stupefied", Mercier said of Ikken, who had worked as a journalist in Algeria and Sweden. "Now everyone just wants to go home".
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