Hundreds of people who had gathered at Place de la Republique in central Paris dispersed suddenly in what police later said seemed to be a false alarm.
With Parisians' nerves still on edge after the shootings and suicide bombings, people suddenly all began running away from the square, a Reuters witness at the scene said.
"There was crowd movement with apparently with no reason. We hadn't heard anything and all the people we questioned hadn't heard anything either," a police official at the square told Reuters.
- Shock gives way to anger
- 'Significant change in targets'
- Man on run after Paris attacks
- Queenstown displays its sympathy'
- An 'act of war'
TV3's Europe correspondent Melissa Davies has just cut off an on-air broadcast to Paul Henry, saying people were fleeing the area and they had been told to move on.
The Associated Press tweeted: "Panic breaks out at scene of one of the Paris attacks, where police enter with drawn guns."
Reporting live from outside the Bataclan theatre, Davis interrupted questions from Henry, saying: "Paul we're just getting reports of more shots in the area, so people are actually leaving this site, we're being advised to move on.
"There's a lot of confusion, panic, people are running.
"We're being told to shut down Paul, so ... we've been told to shut down and move on."
An official from the emergency services told Reuters some members of the public believed they had heard gunfire, but they had no confirmation of any shooting.
