Officials said an investigation was underway after the incident on the French Atlantic island of Oleron. The anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office has not been involved in the investigation.
A man rammed a car into pedestrians and cyclists in France’s of Ile d’Oleron on Wednesday, injuring at least nine people, the interior minister and local officials confirmed.
A 35-year-old suspect has been arrested, with local prosecutors saying the incident appeared to be “deliberate.”
Officials are currently investigating the suspect for attempted murder.
Five people have been hospitalized, with two in critical condition.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez has arrived on the island at the request of the prime minister.
The small island of France’s west coast, which is a popular summer tourist destination, is home to 22,500 people.
Speaking to the press on Wednesday afternoon, Nunez said that French anti-terror police was assisting investigations in an “observer” capacity.
Nunez confirmed French media reports that the suspect shouted “Allahu Akbar” (“God is greatest” in Arabic) when he was arrested.
But he added that it was “too early in the investigation” to be say whether the car ramming was a terrorist act, and that the “justice system should be allowed to run its course.”
Nunez said the suspect acted alone, and was not known to anti-terror police.

He said the attack lasted approximately 35 minutes, and that the suspect had set fire to his vehicle before being police used a taser to subdue him.
The incident took place on a roadside connecting the communities Saint Pierre and Dolus-d’Oleron.    
One of the victims has been identified as a parliamentary staff member of the far-right National Rally legislator, according to French broadcaster BFM.

The suspect is a 35-year-old French national who is a resident of the small fishing village of La Cotiniere.
The mayor of Saint-Pierre d’Oleron described him as a local who lived an “isolated life in a mobile home.”
BFM reported that the suspect apprehended was known to the police for disorderly conduct and petty crime, including drunk driving. The French daily Le Parisien said investigators indicated the suspect may have had a history of mental health issues.
Yael Braun-Pivet, President of France’s lower house, the National Assembly, said her thoughts were “with those injured this morning on the island of Oleron, victims of an attack of unprecedented violence.”
“The justice system must respond with all necessary clarity and determination,” she wrote on X.
Olivier Falorni, MP of the centrist Democrat Movement, addressed the National Assembly, saying that “there is a sense of shock in the country today, and deep concern for the victims.”
Marie-Pierre Vedrenne, a deputy of the interior minister, condemned the attack as “tragic and heinous” during a heated debate in parliament.
She also clashed with Sebastien Chenu of the far-right Rassemblement National, who claimed the incident was the latest Islamist attack to affect the country. “There is no town, there is no neighborhood in our country that feels safe from such events,” Chenu said.
French authorities have not said the incident is related to terrorism or Islamism.
The last vehicle-ramming attack that grabbed French headlines took place in August, when a man drove his car into a crowd outside a wine bar in northern Normandy, killing one and injuring five. That attack had followed a personal dispute.
This is a developing story. Please refresh for updates.
Edited by Rebecca Staudenmaier

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