French police capture driver suspected of running over soldiers near Paris
Prime Minister Edouard Philippe confirmed that the suspect had been intercepted driving the same black BMW he allegedly used in the attack on the highway connecting Paris with the northern city of Boulogne-sur-Mer.
Philippe declined to provide any further details on the arrest and insisted the case was still "in the investigation phase."
According to unverified reports by broadcaster BFM TV, the suspect suffered gunshot wounds after police opened fire and was now hospitalized in serious condition.
During his flight, the suspect reportedly crashed into a police vehicle before making a suspicious gesture and officers, faced with the prospect of him being armed, decided to shoot at the car in order to neutralize him, BFM TV said.
The television station added that the man's identity was still being verified, that he was born in 1980 and that he was not under counter-terrorist surveillance.
The attack took place at 8:30 am local time in the upmarket west Paris suburb of Levallois-Perret, outside the military barracks where a 50-member detachment of Operation Sentinelle _ set up after the Nov. 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris _ was stationed.
The black BMW, after waiting for the soldiers to come out of the barracks, sped towards them while driving on the wrong side of the road and ran them over.
French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb thanked security forces for their work on his Twitter account following the arrest.
"Thanks to our (security) services, fully mobilized following the Levallois attack," Collomb wrote.
Earlier in the day, the mayor of Levallois-Perret, Patrick Balkany, had called the attack an "intolerable aggression" against soldiers and described it as "shameful."
"Without any doubt, it was a deliberate act," Balkany told BFM TV.