By Abimbola Ogunnaike with agency report
French authorities have confirmed that an 11-year-old British girl was shot dead and her father seriously wounded when their 71- year-old Dutch neighbour in northwestern France opened fire on them.
According to the initial investigation, the family was in the garden of their home in the village of Saint-Herbot near Quimper in Brittany on Saturday night, 10 June, 2023, when their neighbour, a pensioner appeared with a firearm and shot them.
Quimper public prosecutor, Carine Halley said in a statement on Sunday, 11 June, 2023 that around 10:00 pm (2000 GMT), law enforcement officials intervened “following gunfire”.
According to the magistrate, the 11-year-old was found dead at the scene, while her father had sustained life-threatening injuries,.
The mother’s life was not deemed to be in danger and a second child was unharmed but “in a state of shock”, prosecutor Halley added.
While police were still trying to determine the motive for the shooting, “it would appear that there had been a dispute between the two neighbours for several years over a plot of land adjoining the two properties”, Halley said.
A police source told AFP that the neighbour had fired his rifle through a hedge before retreating to his home with his wife.
Both the neighbour and his wife have surrendered to authorities and been arrested.
The public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation on charges of voluntary manslaughter of a minor and attempted voluntary manslaughter.
Source: AFP
