SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP
A man who went on a stabbing rampage in France, killing one and wounding several others in what President Emmanuel Macron called an "Islamist terrorist act", was on a terrorism watchlist and subject to deportation orders
The knife-wielding suspect, later identified by prosecutors as a 37-year-old Algerian-born man, was arrested at the site of Saturday's attack in the eastern city of Mulhouse.
Local prosecutor Nicolas Heitz said the suspect, who he did not name, was registered on France's terrorist watchlist.
Speaking at the police station, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said the man had "a schizophrenic profile" and his act had "a psychiatric dimension".
Retailleau said France had repeatedly attempted to expel him from the country, but Algeria refused to cooperate.
The rampage occurred around 4 pm (1500 GMT) near a busy market in Mulhouse, a city of around 110,000 people near the German border. At the time, demonstrators were rallying in support of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
A 69-year-old Portuguese man was fatally wounded while parking attendants and police were also hurt.
Two officers were seriously wounded, with one sustaining an injury to a carotid artery, and the other to the upper body, prosecutor Heitz told AFP, adding that the latter officer was able to leave the hospital.
Three other officers suffered minor injuries, prosecutors said.
During the attack, the suspect was heard shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest), according to the National Anti-terror Prosecutors Unit (PNAT).
Witnesses also told AFP they heard the suspect shouting the words several times.
President Macron later said there was "no doubt" that the incident was "a terrorist act", specifically "an Islamist terrorist act".
The government was determined to continue doing "everything to eradicate terrorism on our soil", he added.
