A Catholic priest was stabbed multiple times on Sunday morning in a church in Nice, France, while a nun was also injured during the knife attack, officials have said.
The attack came as France began voting in a presidential run-off election race between incumbent President Emmanuel Macron and National Rally candidate Marine Le Pen.
He identified the victims as Father Christophe and Sister Marie-Claude.
“Father Christophe was stabbed several times in the Saint Pierre d'Arène church in Nice,” Ciotti wrote, adding that a “sister was injured,” and that he was “able to speak for a few moments with the father before his evacuation to Nice hospital.”
Reuters reported that French cable channel BFM TV quoted police as saying the suspect was a 31-year-old French man and there was no suspicion of terror as being the motive.
The attacker reportedly entered the Saint-Pierre-d'Arène church carrying a 10-centimeter knife and stabbed Father Rudzinski, who is of Polish origin, several times before Sister Marie-Claude intervened and attempted to retrieve the knife from the attacker.
Before attacking the priest, the attacker shouted, “We have to kill Macron,” according to the French outlet Le Figaro.
Firefighters transported Rudzinski to Hospital Pasteur, the university hospital in Nice, while Sister Marie-Claude sustained injuries to her hand.
Meanwhile, police were called to the incident and detained the attacker.
An investigation has been launched into the incident regarding attempted murder and intentional violence with a weapon.
Macron on Sunday won a second term after Le Pen conceded defeat via her social media when interior ministry figures revealed that the former was on course for a solid 57.4 percent of the vote.
“The French showed this evening a desire for a strong counterweight against Emmanuel Macron, for an opposition that will continue to defend and protect them,” Le Pen told supporters on Sunday.
Macron, meanwhile, said that the result was a victory for “a more independent France and a stronger Europe.”