According to the Daily Mail, the man, 37, was confirmed as being on a terrorist watch list and the knife attack unfolded in the city of Mulhouse. Witnesses reported that they heard the man yell, "Allahu Akbar" as the attack took place. The suspect was also facing deportation.
The suspect was on the file which contains people that have been identified as having been "radicalized as terrorists," prosecutor Nicolas Heitz told reporters.
A source investigating the attack told the outlet, "The man was attending a police station to sign his judicial control form connected with his house arrest. He refused to do this, and instead attacked a number of people with a knife. Those hurt included at least three municipal police officers."
The suspect was arrested at the scene of the killing at around 4pm local time. The suspected terror attack follows a number of bomb, gun, as well as knife attacks that have been carried out by Islamist extremists internationally, the outlet reported.
At least five other officers were injured during the attack, according to the Telegraph, two more seriously than another three. French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday that "it is without any doubt an act of Islamist terrorism," when speaking to reporters at the annual French farm show.
"I want to reiterate the determination of the government, and mine, to continue the work to eradicate terrorism on our soil," Macron added in his statement on the incident.
