You are here

Gunmen Open Fire On Crowd Outside Mosque In Avignon, France

A shootout erupted around 10:30pm on Sunday night in Avignon, southern France, when two gunmen opened fire on a crowd outside the Arrahma mosque leaving either people injured, La Provence newspaper reports.

According to initial reports, two hooded men were seen arriving aboard a Renault Clio. One was armed with a handgun, the second a rifle. As a crowd oe people were leaving the mosque, one of the armed men, who had got out of his vehicle, opened fire.

La Provence adds that at least four people were injured at the time, while subseqeuent reports said the number is at least eight. About fifty meters away, a family of four who was in her apartment on the second floor of a building also received shrapnel. A 7-year-old girl was slightly injured.

Police in Avignon are now searching for the suspects who fled the scene.

The police have said they do not suspect terrorism is a motive behind the attack. The permanent magistrate at the Avignon parquet, Laure Chabaud, said the working hypothesis is a settling of accounts or a quarrel between young people.