Sunday, in Colmar, a 62-year-old man was placed in police custody for “attempted intentional homicide”. He is suspected of having fired a shotgun, while intoxicated, at a 22-year-old woman whose vital prognosis is engaged, the prosecution said.
The tragedy occurred on Sunday, around one o’clock in the morning. “Apparently overwhelmed by the noise of a group of people […] in front of his home”, the sexagenarian came out “armed with a rifle”, indicated in a press release the public prosecutor, Catherine Sorita-Minard. “A shot was fired and a young woman, soldier, aged 22, was seriously injured,” added the magistrate, adding that the victim had been operated on Sunday morning but that his vital prognosis is still engaged.
A shot fired accidentally?
The man, “under the influence of alcohol, was arrested on the spot and placed in police custody. He had minor injuries and was seen by a doctor overnight, ”continues the prosecutor. He has no criminal record.
According to the regional daily Alsace, the suspect was beaten by relatives of the victim, several of whom are soldiers. They had gathered in a square near his home to celebrate a birthday. Still according to our colleagues, they tried to take his weapon away from him and the shot would then have gone off.
A criminal investigation in the act of attempted murder has been entrusted to the Colmar police, according to the prosecution, which specifies that the custody must be extended.