A man fired shots in front of a mosque in southwestern France and severely injured two people. The alleged shooter could be arrested a short time later in his house, as the competent prefecture announced. The perpetrator had initially tried to set fire to the door of the mosque in Bayonne, it said. He was surprised by two older men and shot at them.
The victims are a 74 and a 78-year-old man, they were taken to a hospital. Her condition was "serious, but stable," the investigators said.
The alleged perpetrators had set a car according to investigators and then fled. Accordingly, it is a man over 80 years old.
According to media reports, the suspect had a gas cylinder in his car, also before the mosque had been found accelerant. To the motive of the man there is so far no further information.
