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French police search for gunman after killing at monks' retirement home French police search for gunman after killing at monks' retirement home
(35 minutes later)
A woman has been found dead at a retirement home for monks near Montpellier in southern France, after an armed masked man entered the home on Thursday night. A woman has been found dead at a retirement home for monks near Montpellier in southern France, after an armed masked man entered the home at 10pm on Thursday night.
Police said the home’s residents were safe but that officers were still searching for the gunman. Police said the residents of the home in Montferrier-sur-Lez in the Hérault were safe but that officers were still searching for the gunman.
There were conflicting reports over the identity of the dead woman. Initially, a police source told Reuters that she was believed to be the caretaker, who had contacted police before she was killed with a knife. Investigators said they had no evidence at this stage to suggest the attack was terror-related.
However, later reports said that the caretaker had escaped and freed herself after being bound and gagged by the gunman. “For the time being, there is only one victim,” Montpellier prosecutor Christophe Barret told Agence France-Presse. “For the moment there is no particular evidence about the motive for this crime.”
It is thought the woman, who had been stabbed several times, was a resident of the three-storey retirement home in Montferrier-sur-Lez in the Hérault. The man was not known to authorities.
There were about 60 residents, who included nuns and former missionaries as well as monks. The man entered the home at around 10pm. Residents of the home “are very elderly with an average age of 75 although some are more than 90,” said Alain Berthet, a local councillor in Montferrier-sur-Luz. Many of the residents require assistance to walk, he said.
The French news channel BFM TV reported that the police search of the building was over, all the residents were safe, but the armed man was on the run. The secretary general of the French Bishops’ Conference, Olivier Ribadeau Dumas, said in a Twitter message: “Our prayers tonight go to the woman who lost her life in this attack on a retirement home.”
There were conflicting reports over the identity of the dead woman. Initially, a police source told Reuters that she was believed to be the concierge, who had contacted police before she was killed with a knife.
However, later reports said that the concierge had escaped and freed herself after being bound and gagged by the gunman.
It is thought the woman, who had been stabbed several times, was a resident of the three-storey retirement home.
There were about 60 residents, who included nuns and former missionaries as well as monks.
The Paris anti-terrorist investigations unit is not running the investigation at this point. Local police referred to a “criminal act”.The Paris anti-terrorist investigations unit is not running the investigation at this point. Local police referred to a “criminal act”.