Authorities in France aren’t quite saying this was terrorism yet but they are saying the attack was deliberate. The suspect sat in a rented BMW waiting for a shift change then accelerated into a group of six soldiers. From the Telegraph:

Witnesses said the car was parked, apparently in wait, on a small road not far from the Town Hall.

“I heard a huge crash which I thought was the sound of scaffolding being put up,” Thierry Chappe, a resident in a building opposite the crime scene, told AFP.

Six soldiers were taken to a military hospital to the south west of Paris after the hit-and-run. Three of them are said to have sustained serious but not life-threatening injuries. The other three have been released from hospital with minor injuries…

Local Mayor Patrick Balkany immediately told the French press that the incident was “without a doubt a deliberate act”.

After the attack, the driver fled. Authorities said 300 police officers were mobilized to find the suspect. That led to a chase on the highway which ended with the driver being shot five times. From the Guardian:

After spotting the BMW on the motorway, police vehicles tried to force it to pull over, but the driver reportedly rammed several cars in an attempt to get away. Armed officers, despatched from Lille and Rouen, took over the chase. Police say they opened fire after the driver made a gesture that suggested he was about to pull out a gun.

Police have confirmed the car was the same rented BMW used in the attack. Another witness describes the scene of the attack to the Guardian:

Nadia LeProhon was startled by the loud crash outside her building and rushed outside to see two soldiers on the ground. Other soldiers ran after a speeding car, shouting: “After him. Follow that car.”

She said the scream that followed the crash still echoed in her head. “I’ll never forget that scream … of pain and distress,” she said.

Here’s the most recent Fox News report on the attack: