At least one person is dead after an armed intruder forced his way into a retirement home for monks early Friday morning in southern France, a local government spokeswoman said.
A search is underway for the masked suspect, according to CNN affiliate BFM-TV, which cited a local official. Separately, a local official told CNN she could not confirm if the suspect had been caught.
A source close to the operation said police do not believe it was a terror incident.
The intruder broke into Maison des Chênes Verts in Montferrier-sur-Lez, near the city of Montpellier in the greater French province of Lyon.
The intruder broke in while most residents were asleep and tied up a female staffer, the source said. The woman was able to call police.
French military police responded and found the body of a woman who appeared to be the intended target killed by a knife, the source said.
The Society of African Missions, a Catholic missionary congregation that operates mostly in Africa, oversees the retirement home.