Eyewitnesses to the attack said the suspect was yelling “Allahu Akbar.” According to the prosecutor’s office he “was found on his knees on the pavement praying in Arabic” and was arrested without a struggle.

The assailant was identified as Abdallah A.-O., a man in his 30s who lives in the town.

David Olivier Reverdy, from the National Police Alliance union, said the attacker called on police to kill him when they arrested him, the report said. Religious documents were found in the suspect’s home with notes complaining “that he lives in a country of non-believers,” according to the national anti-terrorist prosecutor’s office.

The suspect received refugee status in 2017 and was not known to the authorities.