A policewoman collects evidence on December 21, 2014 in Dijon on the site where a driver shouting "Allahu Akbar" ("God is great") ploughed into a crowd injuring 11 people, two seriously, a source close to the investigation said.ARNAUD FINISTRE/AFP / Getty Images
French officials called for vigilance but warned against jumping to conclusions Monday after a pair of weekend attacks – one in which a driver ran down 13 bystanders, and another in which a recent convert to Islam knifed police officers.
The driver, who had a history of psychological problems, was arrested following the attack in Dijon, while the assailant who stabbed the officers outside the city of Tours was shot to death by police. None of the victims died.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Monday that the investigation in Dijon is just beginning "and the motives are unclear." But his visit to the city was an indication of the government's heightened concerns days after Islamic extremists renewed calls for individuals to strike in the West.
Police union official Michel Bonnet told BFM television that some witnesses heard the driver say "Allah is great."
Counterterrorist police are investigating the attack Saturday on police in a suburb of Tours, which left two officers seriously injured and a third with light injuries.
"The president calls for solidarity with the victims, the families, both for the pedestrians in Dijon and the officers in Joue-les-Tours," said Stephane Le Foll, the government spokesman. "He also emphasized that we should not give in to panic."
Editor's note: An earlier incorrectly identified the city where the driver's attack took place as Lyon, not Dijon.