One dead, several police wounded in 'Islamist' knife attack in France
One of the seriously wounded police officers sustained an injury to the carotid artery, and the other to the thorax, Heitz said.
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau was expected to travel to the scene of the attack later Saturday.
Police established a security parameter after the attack that happened shortly before 4:00 pm (1500 GMT) during a demonstration in support of the Democratic Republic of Congo in a busy part of Mulhouse, a city of around 110,000 inhabitants.
Military units were sent to the scene as backup and forensic scientists searched for evidence, working hurriedly to examine blood stains before rain could wash them away.
According to union sources, the suspect was born in Algeria and has been under judicial supervision and house arrest, with an expulsion order from France.
"Horror has seized our city," Mulhouse mayor Michele Lutz said on Facebook. The incident was being investigated as a terror attack, she said, but "this must obviously still be confirmed by the judiciary".
The PNAT said it is investigating the attack for murder, and attempted murder "in connection with a terrorist enterprise".
Macron, who spoke during a visit to France's agriculture fair, said the "solidarity of the nation" was with the attack victim and his family.
Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said that "fanaticism has struck again, and we are in mourning".
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