Suspect arrested in shooting of priest in France's Lyon

A suspect was arrested on Saturday after an attacker with a shotgun shot a Greek Orthodox priest in the chest before fleeing in the French city of Lyon.

"A person who could correspond to the description given by the initial witnesses has been placed in policy custody," Lyon's public prosecutor Nicolas Jacquet said in a statement.

The suspect had not been been carrying a weapon when he was arrested.

The priest was shot and badly wounded early Saturday. There was no clear indication of a motive in the hours after the attack, and officials gave no indication that it was terrorism-related.

There was no confirmation that the person was the suspected assailant, however, nor any indication whether police were still looking for someone else.

The priest was fired on twice at around 4 pm as he was closing the church.

A Greek government official identified the priest as Nikolaos Kakavelakis.

The incident came two days after a man shouting "Allahu Akbar!" (God is Greatest) beheaded a woman and killed two other people in a church in Nice.

Two weeks ago, a schoolteacher in a Paris suburb was beheaded by an 18-year-old attacker who was apparently incensed by the teacher showing a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad during a class.

Government ministers had warned that there could be other Islamist militant attacks.

President Emmanuel Macron has deployed thousands of soldiers to protect sites such as places of worship and schools.