French police shoot man who set fire to Angoulême town hall

NEWS WIRES

21 August 2024 at 11:37 am·1-min read

A man was shot and seriously injured on Wednesday in Angoulême town hall in southwestern France after he set fire to the 19th century building using petrol, police and local authorities said. The fire was rapidly brought under control.

Police shot and gravely wounded a man Wednesday after he set fire to the town hall in western French city of Angoulême, local authorities and police sources said.

Wearing military battledress, the 46-year-old burst into the 19th-century building and poured petrol around a first-floor room where two women aides to local councillors were working.

"He poured petrol in the room, while the aides managed to get out and cry for help, alerting local police," prefect Jerôme Harnois told a press conference.

Officers resorted to "using their firearms several times" after failing to subdue the attacker with a truncheon, Harnois added.

A police source said the man was taken to hospital "in very grave condition", adding that he had no criminal record and his motives were unknown.

Angoulême's mayor Xavier Bonnefont said the fire was quickly put out, while Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin posted on the X social media platform that "no-one was hurt apart from the perpetrator".

Harnois said prosecutors had opened an investigation, adding that the attacker was a French citizen.

(AFP)

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