Man shot by air rifle outside Paris-area synagogue

Passerby injured in the leg; two teens arrested; Jewish leaders says it was random act, not anti-Semitism

By JTA and ToI Staff 20 February 2019, 8:26 am

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People stand in front of a synagogue with its doors closed in Sarcelles, a suburb north of Paris, on July 20, 2014. (KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images)

French police arrested two teenagers Tuesday in a suburb of Paris on suspicion that they wounded a person when they fired an air rifle at a synagogue last week.

The two teenagers, who were being investigated as suspects in an anti-Semitic hate crime for the incident, lightly wounded a passerby near the synagogue of Sarcelles on Friday by shooting a lead projectile into his calf, the AFP news agency reported Tuesday.

The two alleged shooters are 15 and 16 years old, the Le Parisien newspaper reported.

They had staked out the synagogue from a balcony overlooking the building on Friday night, as worshipers began to gather there.

Moïse Kahloun, the president of the Jewish community of Sarcelles, said he did not believe the attack was anti-Semitic.

“This is not an anti-Semitic attack, just kids who shot at random.”

On Tuesday thousands of people attended rallies against anti-Semitism held in Paris and other French cities following a series of aggressive acts with Jewish targets.