A man attacked a policewoman with a knife in western France on Friday, seriously wounding her and sparking a manhunt, local police said.

The suspect, still armed, was on the run after the attack in La Chapelle-sur-Erdre near Nantes, and police dispatched 80 officers to pursue him, a police source said.

The BFMTV station said that he took the policewoman’s service weapon before fleeing.

Pupils in the area’s primary and middle schools were kept indoors, a city official told AFP.

A source close to the investigation said that the policewoman’s injuries were life-threatening.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin was on his way to the scene, his ministry said.

La Chapelle-sur-Erdre is a small town of 20,000 inhabitants just north of Nantes near the French Atlantic coast.

Source: National News Agency