French gunmen shoot at young people and try to corner responding police in ‘drug-related’ attack
The men were reportedly wielding Kalashnikov rifles when they opened fire near a group of youths, before turning their attentions on police. All suspects escaped, police said
A group of gun-toting people in a French city attacked residents, shot near young people at a cultural centre and tried to corner police who responded to the sound of gunfire on Monday, it has been reported.
One resident was hit in the head with a butt of a gun and slightly injured during the incident in the Busserine district of Marseilles on early Monday evening, Christophe Reynaud of Marseille police said.
The men arrived in three vehicles and opened fire with Kalashnikov rifles on Monday evening, Marseille’s La Provence newspaper reported.
Police said the group fired into the air close to the cultural centre, attracting police attention before driving away. No suspects have been apprehended.
The man who was hit with the butt of a gun was taken to hospital, La Provence said.
Reynaud said that the incident is not being treated as terror-related, and that it was most likely linked to drugs.