France terror attack leaves three dead, woman beheaded [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• A man with a knife killed three people and injured several others on Thursday at a church in Nice, France, officials reported.
• Police who reported to NBC News said two victims who were inside the church were found dead with serious stab wounds while a third victim died of several stab wounds in a nearby restaurant.
• The knife attack, now believed as a terrorist attack, is currently under investigation by the Anti-Terrorist Parquet.

A man attacked and killed three people and wounded several others with a knife at a church in the southern French city of Nice on Thursday, officials told NBC News.

The knife attack was carried out inside the Notre Dame Church about 9:10 a.m. local time, 4:10 ET a.m. where police confirmed that the bodies of two people, a man and a woman, were found inside the church. The third victim was a woman who had fled the church but was later found dead with multiple stab wounds in a nearby café.

The attacker was arrested and currently detained at a hospital after being seriously wounded by the police, says Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi who wrote on Twitter that the city had “paid too heavy a price in the same way as our country in recent years.” He added that French President Emmanuel Macron is due to visit the city this Thursday morning.  

Investigation on the incident, which is now regarded as a terrorist attack, has been launched and is headed by the national Anti-Terrorist Parquet.

To ensure no other threat, Interior Minister of France Gerald Darmanin said that national and local police as well as bomb squads are guarding the scene. He further called on people to avoid the area and follow the instructions while a police operation is underway.

The incident comes 13 days after the killing of a French middle school history teacher in Paris which sparked worldwide condemnation with French protesters gathering in support of freedom of speech.

Samuel Paty, 47, was beheaded by an 18-year-old after presenting his pupils with caricatures of Prophet Muhammad, an act considered blasphemous by Muslims. The attacker was later shot dead by police.

Source: CNBC News