(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, according to authorities.
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.
