Paris(CNN)French President Emmanuel Macron has said that France "will not give into terrorism," after three people were killed in a knife attack on a church in Nice. An investigation into the incident is underway.
The stabbings took place in the Mediterranean city's Notre-Dame Basilica on Thursday, at a time of heightened tensions in the country over Islam, secularism and freedom of speech.
One of the victims, a 60-year-old woman, was found at the entrance of the church with a deep cut to her throat, French anti-terror prosecutor Jean-François Ricard, said in a press conference.
A 55-year-old man, the church's sacristan, also died from a fatal wound to the throat. The third casualty, a 44-year-old woman, was stabbed several times before she fled the church. She died at a nearby restaurant.
The attack took 28 minutes, said Ricard, whose office is investigating the attack. Police arriving on the scene shot the suspected attacker but did not kill him, he added.
"Very clearly France is under attack," Macron said, after a visit to the scene of the attack. The country has raised its national terror alert guidance to its highest "emergency" level, and up to 4,000 military personnel will be deployed to boost security at schools, churches and other places of worship.
The country must use such attacks to unite and not give into the "spirit of division," the French President added.
The suspect's movements
The suspect, who was hospitalized in critical condition, has been identified by French police as Brahim Aouissaoui. He was unknown to French intelligence services and not in the national fingerprint file, according to Ricard.
Aouissaoui is a Tunisian national, according to the interior ministry of Italy. A source briefed on the investigation told CNN that Aouissaoui entered Europe in September through the southern Italian island of Lampedusa.
Italian authorities gave him seven days to leave the country, but was not accompanied to the border as he did not have any previous criminal records, the ministry said.
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The stabbings took place in the Mediterranean city's Notre-Dame Basilica on Thursday, at a time of heightened tensions in the country over Islam, secularism and freedom of speech.
One of the victims, a 60-year-old woman, was found at the entrance of the church with a deep cut to her throat, French anti-terror prosecutor Jean-François Ricard, said in a press conference.
A 55-year-old man, the church's sacristan, also died from a fatal wound to the throat. The third casualty, a 44-year-old woman, was stabbed several times before she fled the church. She died at a nearby restaurant.
The attack took 28 minutes, said Ricard, whose office is investigating the attack. Police arriving on the scene shot the suspected attacker but did not kill him, he added.
"Very clearly France is under attack," Macron said, after a visit to the scene of the attack. The country has raised its national terror alert guidance to its highest "emergency" level, and up to 4,000 military personnel will be deployed to boost security at schools, churches and other places of worship.
The country must use such attacks to unite and not give into the "spirit of division," the French President added.
The suspect's movements
The suspect, who was hospitalized in critical condition, has been identified by French police as Brahim Aouissaoui. He was unknown to French intelligence services and not in the national fingerprint file, according to Ricard.
Aouissaoui is a Tunisian national, according to the interior ministry of Italy. A source briefed on the investigation told CNN that Aouissaoui entered Europe in September through the southern Italian island of Lampedusa.
Italian authorities gave him seven days to leave the country, but was not accompanied to the border as he did not have any previous criminal records, the ministry said.
France 'will not give into terrorism' says Macron, after three stabbed to death in church attack | CNN
French President Emmanuel Macron has said that France "will not give into terrorism," after three people were killed in a knife attack on a church in Nice. An investigation into the incident is underway.
