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An arrest after shooting Orthodox priests in Lyon
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Soldiers and police secure the area after the attack in Lyon
Source: AFP / JEFF PACHOUD
An Orthodox priest was attacked and wounded with a weapon in the French city of Lyon. There was reportedly an arrest that night. The background is still unclear.
IIn Lyon on Saturday shots were fired near a church. An Orthodox priest was shot. The alleged perpetrator initially fled, police told AFP news agency on Saturday afternoon. The newspaper “Figaro” also reports on the escape, citing police circles.
In the evening, the authorities reported an arrest. Lyon prosecutor Nicolas Jacquet said on Saturday that the person who was not carrying a weapon when they were arrested is in police custody.
It could be the person described by the witnesses, the review is still ongoing.
It is said that the writing took place in front of this Orthodox Church.
Source: AFP / JEFF PACHOUD
The victim, the Greek priest, is in serious condition. He was about to “close his church” when the act occurred. The shot is said to have hit the man in the liver. The Interior Ministry issued a warning for an area in the city’s 7th district.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin urged residents to stay away from the scene and follow instructions from security forces. A crisis team was summoned. In a tweet, the President of the EU Council, Charles Michel, condemned the attack. In Europe, freedom of conscience is guaranteed for all and must be respected, violence is unbearable and must be condemned, the politician wrote.
The Lyon prosecutor has opened an investigation for attempted murder. Until now, the investigations have not been taken over by the French prosecutor’s anti-terrorist investigators.
On Thursday, a man had beheaded a woman in a church in Nice and killed two other people.
French President Emmanuel Macron described the deadly attack as an “Islamist terrorist attack,” and the counter-terrorism prosecutor’s office launched an investigation. Prime Minister Jean Castex proclaimed the highest level of terror alert for the country.
Due to the reissue of the Muhammad cartoons by the satirical newspaper “Charlie Hebdo”, the atmosphere in Muslim countries has recently heated up against France. In countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh, thousands of people recently took to the streets in anti-French protests.
