NICE, France - A deadly knife attack described as a "terrorist" incident occurred Thursday morning in the French city of Nice and led to the deaths of at least three people, CNN reports.

The attack took place in a church, the Notre Dame Basilica, and officials say one of the victims, a woman, was "decapitated" inside the church, Mayor Christian Estrosi said.

Estrosi said the suspect behind the attack was shot by police, but is still alive and has been taken into custody.

"I am on the scene with the police who arrested the attacker. Everything points to a terrorist attack," Estrosi said on Twitter Thursday morning.

#Nice06 est une nouvelle fois touchée dans son coeur par l'islamofascisme que je ne cesse de dénoncer.

J'adresse tout mon soutien et toute ma compassion aux familles des victimes de ce barbare.

Je veux remercier les forces de l'ordre mobilisées et particulièrement la @PMdeNice pic.twitter.com/zgm4UPi1sR

— Christian Estrosi (@cestrosi) October 29, 2020

"At this moment, we have, without any doubt, two dead inside the church, in a horrible way," Estrosi said shortly afterwards during a press conference.

"It seems that, according to the first findings of the police, the woman who was inside the church has been decapitated. For the other victims, we cannot say anything at the moment," Estrosi told French news channel BFMTV.

France's Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said he was chairing a crisis meeting at the ministry in response to the attack.

CNN reports that French President Emmanuel Macron will travel to Nice after attending that meeting, the Elysee Palace said.

The country's anti-terror prosecutor has taken on the investigation into the attack, a spokesperson for the prosecutor's office said.

This is a developing situation, please check back for updates.