Michael Harpon, 45, caused the bloodbath in the French capital's historic Police Prefecture, next door to Notre Dame Cathedral.

Investigators have not ruled out a possible terrorist motivation for the Thursday afternoon attack, which left a woman and three men dead. 

All were repeatedly stabbed by Harpon, who had worked in the IT department at the Prefecture since 2003, in the worst loss of French police lives in a single day since World War II.

Harpon had recently been reprimanded by his female boss over his refusal to interact with women, Actu17 reported.

Within hours of the attack, anti-terrorist officers had raided Harpon's flat in an apartment block at Gonesse, a suburb some 12 miles from the scene of the attack.

His wife, Iham, was arrested, as an investigating source said that the nature of Harpon's attack corresponded with similar ones carried out by terrorists affiliated to Islamic State and Al-Qaeda. 

'An investigation has been launched into a grudge the assailant may have held against his colleagues, but terrorism cannot be ruled out,' said the source.

'Many of those involved in similar attacks on the police have been Muslim converts influenced by radical terrorist groups.'