French police have opened a terrorism investigation after arresting a man suspected of killing two and wounding five others with a knife.
Prosecutors arrested a 30-year-old man, who is a Sudanese refugee, in connection with an attack at a tobacco shop Saturday in Romans-sur-Isère, according to the BBC.
Police said they found the man “on his knees on the pavement praying in Arabic.” The man asked the police to kill him, they said.
The suspect had not previously been on the authorities’ radar, French media reported.
French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the attack.
“My thoughts are with the victims of the Romans-sur-Isère attack, the injured, their families,” he said. “All the light will be shed on this odious act which comes to mourn our country already hard hit in recent weeks.”
Mes pensées accompagnent les victimes de l’attaque de Romans-sur-Isère, les blessés, leurs familles. Toute la lumière sera faite sur cet acte odieux qui vient endeuiller notre pays déjà durement éprouvé ces dernières semaines.
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) April 4, 2020
France is currently under a national lockdown because of the coronavirus, with residents only allowed to go outside to obtain necessary supplies or to get exercise.
