Hooded men attack wedding with assault rifles in Lorraine
Members of a Turkish community are celebrating a wedding in France, near the German border. Suddenly, several armed men appeared before the banquet hall and opened fire. A young man died in the hail of bullets, several guests were injured. The organized crime investigators are investigating.
At a wedding reception in France, on the night of Sunday in Thionville, Lorraine, there was one dead and five injured. While around 100 people were celebrating in a banquet hall in the city near the German and Luxembourg borders, three masked and black-clad assailants with two assault rifles and a shotgun fired dozens of shots at guests. The Nancy Organized Crime Prosecutor's Office reported this.
The assailants arrived around 1:00 AM in a SUV and opened fire first on three people standing in front of the "Eden Palace" banquet hall, where members of the Turkish community were celebrating a wedding, according to France Info. They then fired on two people in the entrance and fled with their vehicle.
A young man died, three other victims were critically injured, according to the prosecutor's office. Two more people were lightly injured by flying glass shards. This included a pregnant woman who also suffered a shock, as reported by the local newspaper "Le Républicain Lorrain".
When the emergency services arrived, the shooters had already fled. The investigation was entrusted to the Direction for Organized and Specialized Crime (DCOS) in the Moselle Department, according to the prosecutor's office. The assailants were charged with premeditated murder and attempted premeditated murder.
According to media reports, the forensic police continued to secure the crime scene in the morning. Numerous cartridge casings were found, reported "Le Républicain Lorrain". The background of the attack and the motives for the shooting are unclear. According to investigators, there is a video surveillance system on site.
The investigation into the wedding hall shooting in Thionville is being led by the Direction de la Lutte contre la Criminalité Organisée et la Criminalité Specialized (DCOS) due to the involvement of organized crime, as stated by the prosecutor's office.
This tragic incident at the wedding reception in France has sparked concerns about international organized crime groups operating within European borders.
The French police are collaborating with their international counterparts to track down the masked assailants involved in the wedding hall shooting, as interconnected organized crime networks are often transnational in nature.
