Suspect arrested after vehicle hits 6 soldiers in Paris suburb

— -- A man who allegedly slammed a vehicle into six French soldiers Wednesday morning has been arrested on a highway north of Paris following a manhunt, officials said.

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe informed the country's National Assembly that the "main suspect" had been arrested and a spokesperson for France's interior ministry told ABC News the man was shot and injured by French police.

The Paris prosecutor's office also confirmed the arrest to ABC News, saying the man was driving the car authorities were searching for on the A16 highway north of Paris.

Shortly after 8 a.m. local time Wednesday, six French soldiers were on their way to a routine patrol in the western Paris suburb of Levallois-Perret when a vehicle struck them and sped away. The soldiers were leaving an army barracks near De Vedon, authorities said.

The vehicle in question was reportedly a dark-colored BMW, according to French media.

Authorities said all six soldiers, two of whom are seriously injured, were taken to a military hospital in the Hauts-de-Seine area of France.

Ten thousand soldiers have been deployed on foot patrol since January 2015 after the attacks on the Paris offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

Levallois-Perret Mayor Patrick Balkany told French news channel BFMTV he had "no doubt" the incident was a "deliberate" attack.

According to The Associated Press, the Paris prosecutor's office said French counterterrorism prosecutors opened an investigation into the incident. Although no one is specifically named in the probe, it aims to pursue perpetrators on charges of attempted murder of security forces in connection with a terrorist enterprise, the prosecutor's office told the AP.

The move means authorities believe Wednesday's act was deliberate and planned with a terrorist motive.

The U.S. Embassy in France posted an alert on Twitter early Wednesday, alerting U.S. citizens of "an attack on military personnel" and urging them to "avoid the area."

ABC News' Paul Pradier contributed to this report.