In a church in the French city of Lyon, a Greek Orthodox priest was shot and badly wounded by an assailant who then fled, police and witnesses say.

As he was closing the church, the priest was fired twice at about 4:00 p.m. (local time) and was being treated for life-threatening injuries, the police source said.

The church, in the center of the city, was Greek Orthodox, witnesses said.

The priest, who was of Greek nationality, told the emergency services that he had not recognized his assailant, another police source said.

The attacker was alone and a hunting rifle was used, said the official, who was not permitted to be publicly named.

The motive of the assailant was not immediately clear.

Police locked the neighborhood around the church down and warned the Twitter public to stay away.

The priest was identified by a Greek government official as Nikolaos Kakavelakis.

A suspect was arrested at a kebab shop in Lyon several hours later and placed in police custody, said the first police source.

However, there was no confirmation that the individual was the suspected gunman or if police were still searching for someone else.

No indication was given by French officials that the attack was related to terrorism.

As is normal when law enforcement officials suspect a terrorism link, the French anti-terrorism prosecutor's office has not been brought in, France's BFMTV broadcaster said.