At least 8 injured in shooting near mosque in France

Police rule out terror as motive in incident in Avignon, say it may be criminal settling of scores

By Agencies 3 July 2017, 3:57 am

Edit

Illustration: Police officers control traffic near the Tocqueville high school in Grasse, southwestern France, after a shooting occured in the school on March 16, 2017. (Valery Hache/AFP)

French media reports said overnight Sunday that eight people had been injured in a shooting near a mosque in the southern city of Avignon in what appeared to be a criminal settling of scores.

Local magistrate Laure Chabaud was quoted by La Provence and Le Dauphine Libere as saying that the mosque did not appear to be the target of the shooting.

According to initial accounts, at least two men got out of a car around 10:30 p.m. near the mosque and opened fire, including with a shotgun, the prosecutor’s office said.

None of the wounded had life-threatening injuries, it said.

“From what we know this evening, the mosque was not targeted. The fact that it happened in the street of the religious establishment was unconnected with it,” the prosecutor said, ruling out terrorism.

Witness accounts mentioned four men in the car, all hooded.

No mosque was publicly listed at the reported address.

The shooting comes as France’s government prepares to extend a state of emergency in place since Islamic extremist attacks in 2015, citing continued threats.