Police in Australia are reporting that a French man shouted "Allahu Akbar" while stabbing a British woman to death and wounding two men.

The 29-year-old suspect did not have any known ties to ISIS. Police are trying to determine whether the suspect was motivated by extremism.

“While this information will be factored into the investigation, we are not ruling out any motivations at this early stage, whether they be political or criminal,” Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski told reporters. “Investigators will also consider whether mental health or drug misuse factors are involved in this incident.”

The attack took place Tuesday night at a hostel in the town of Home Hill, south of Townsville in northern Queensland. A 21-year-old British woman was found dead at the scene and a 30-year-old British man was hospitalized in critical condition. A local man was treated and released for injuries. A dog was also fatally wounded in the attack.

The man, a French national visiting Australia, shouted “Allahu akbar” -- the Arabic phrase meaning “God is great” -- both during the attack and while being arrested by police, Gollschewski said. He has not yet been charged, but police weren’t looking for any other suspects related to the incident.

Gollschewski said law enforcement are treating the attack as a homicide rather than a terrorist attack. Why?

“The associated issues of what motivated him and whether that has any relevance to radicalization is something we’re going to explore fully, but we won’t know for some time whether that’s the case,” he said.

The suspect was in Australia on a temporary visa.