( CNN ) A 24-year-old man is in custody after he called for an ambulance , only to have French authorities come and discover weapons , ammunition and evidence of his plans to target churches -- an attack that someone in Syria requested , a top prosecutor said Wednesday . The man was identified later as Sid Ahmed Ghlam , French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told television broadcaster TF1 . Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins said Ghlam asked for medical help at his home in Paris ' 13th district Sunday morning , claiming he had accidentally injured himself when he mishandled a weapon . But authorities found more than a man with a gunshot wound in his thigh . Molins said Ghlam was someone suspected of killing a 32-year-old woman hours earlier and who then intended to launch a larger-scale terror attack in the near future . `` ( He ) let them believe that he was the victim , '' French President Francois Hollande said Wednesday . `` But police understood that there was an investigation that needed to be initiated . '' That probe started in earnest when police spotted traces of blood and bags in the suspect 's car . Based on this discovery `` and in view of the attitude and suspicious behavior of the individual , '' they looked inside the car and found a loaded Kalashnikov gun , a 9-mm revolver , three cell phones , a laptop , a USB key , a satellite navigation system `` and handwritten documents that contained information on possible targets , '' Molins said . A search inside his home turned up yet more potentially key evidence , including three more Kalashnikovs , three bulletproof vests , police armbands , a camera , some 2,000 euros in cash and `` documents in Arabic mentioning al Qaeda and ISIS , '' according to the prosecutor . `` A terrorist attack has been foiled , '' Hollande said . `` It 's not the first time . '' Earlier Ghlam was identified as a computer science student originally from Algeria . According to Molins , he lived in that North African country until 2001 , joined his parents in France for the next two years , then went back to Algeria . He got his undergraduate degree in that nation , then returned to France to study electronics . He 'd never been convicted of a crime ; in fact , the lone accusation against him in August 2013 was later withdrawn . But that did n't mean French authorities did n't know about Ghlam . `` He had been noticed wishing to go to Syria , '' Molins explained . The prosecutor added that authorities found nothing to suggest he was imminent threat , `` but he was under surveillance . '' Law enforcement checked on the man once in 2014 and again this year , Cazeneuve said . The minister said the man planned to head to Syria , a country embroiled in a bloody , years-long civil war that has attracted foreigners wishing to join extremist militant groups like ISIS . There was no indication he ever made it . But , Molins said , computer searches revealed that the man had been communicating with someone in Syria who `` asked him to target a church . '' What church ? Authorities did n't disclose that detail on Wednesday , though Molins did say `` this target was confirmed by ( the suspect 's satellite navigation system ) and handwritten documents in his car . '' Paris is home to the famed Notre Dame cathedral and Sacre Coeur basilica , both huge draws for tourists . It 's not known if either were in line to be attacked , but Prime Minister Manuel Valls Wednesday visited one of the churches allegedly targeted , which was located in the Paris suburb of Villejuif . Assuming Ghlam does n't walk free anytime soon -- for now , he 's in custody awaiting possible charges -- that attack wo n't happen anytime soon . But authorities say he 's already claimed at least one victim . Her name is Aurelie Chatelain . The 32-year-old was found dead Sunday morning sitting in the passenger seat of a parked car in Villejuif , killed by a single bullet that struck her shoulder , went through her body and ended up embedded in the seat . Cazeneuve said Chatelain was the mother of a 5-year-old girl and had come to the region on Saturday to attend a training class . It 's not known what connection , if any , she had with the suspect . Nonetheless , Molins said that ballistics , DNA , satellite navigation and other evidence connected him to the death of Chatelain , who Molins called the region 's first victim of terrorism since January . That 's when the massacre at Charlie Hebdo 's offices and the siege of a kosher market in Paris took place , prompting French authorities to beef up security measures . `` France , like other countries , is facing a terror threat that is unprecedented in its nature and magnitude , '' Valls said . `` ... Terrorists are targeting France to divide us . '' CNN 's Jethro Mullen , Andrew Carey , Sandrine Amiel and Ariana Williams contributed to this report .
Suspect identified by French authorities as Aurelie Chatelain . Prosecutor : Someone in Syria asked the arrested man to target French churches . Evidence connects terror plot suspect to the killing of Sid Ahmed Ghlam , he says .