A person has been arrested after injuring two individuals in an early morning stabbing attack at a Sikh temple in Edmonton, Canada, police said.

Officials said the attack inside the sprawling Nanaksar Gurdwara unfolded around 05:00 native time (12:00 BST) on Friday morning. Police did not determine the suspect, nor did they specify a motive.

The attack comes after police confirmed last week that they were investigating threatening calls made to two Sikh gurdwaras in Calgary, two hours south of where Friday’s attack took place.

The World Sikh Organization, based mostly in Canada, has said the attack is deeply troubling and has occurred against the backdrop of rising anti-Sikh hate across the nation.

Police first acquired reports around 04:49 native time of a man strolling in visitors on a freeway, and about quarter-hour later, they got calls about a stabbing inside the temple, the Edmonton Police Service said.

The reports said a man had entered the Gurdwara and tried accessing the prayer space when he was confronted by workers, police said.

“This confrontation then escalated, and two male patrons of the Gurdwara were stabbed. Thankfully, quick-acting witnesses intervened and detained the man,” Acting Inspector Eric Stewart said at a press convention Friday.

The two victims, a 75-year-old man and 51-year-old man, were not severely injured and are in steady situation, police said. Police described them as “worshippers” and did not present further particulars.

The suspect, a 27-year-old man who was identified to police, has an intensive historical past of violent attacks courting back to 2015, police said. He had been launched from a federal jail in Alberta the day before the attack, and failed to report to his designated midway home in Edmonton, officers said.

Charges are still pending against the suspect, and police are investigating if the attack was motivated by hateful ideology.

Edmonton police chief Warren Driechel urged the public to be affected person as officers decided the suspect’s motivations, but acknowledged rising considerations about hate crimes.

“I see the heightened geopolitical tensions and increasing polarisation around the world showing up locally,” he said. “These realities can’t be ignored, and we need to call them out when they happen. We cannot remain silent.”

The World Sikh Organization said a copy of the Sikh scripture inside the temple was also desecrated in the attack. Police said they are conscious of that report and are trying into it.

“Police are currently on scene and the Gurdwara has been closed to the public while the investigation continues,” the Sikh organisation said in its assertion.

Calgary’s mayor Jeromy Farkas condemned the earlier threats made in his own metropolis in a social media publish, calling them “utterly disgusting”.

“Gurdwaras are places of hospitality, generosity and service. Everyone is welcome,” Farkas said.