8 People Injured in Mosque Shooting in France

Eight people have been wounded after two suspects opened fire on worshippers leaving a Mosque in Avignon in the Provence region of France on Sunday evening.

According to French authorities, the two suspects arrived at the scene in a Renault Clio. They then got out of the car, carrying a handgun and a shotgun, and opened fire on the crowd who had just left the Arrahma mosque.

Initially, it was believed that the attack was targeting Muslims specifically, but the prosecutor’s office in the Avignon has said that they are not treating this incident as a terrorist attack.

“From what we know this evening, the mosque was not targeted. The fact that it happened in the street of the religious establishment was unconnected with it,” the prosecutor said in a statement.

Four of the eight people injured were gathering in front of the mosque, while the other four was a family who were injured by shrapnel while in their apartment which is located close to the mosque.

A seven-year-old girl was part of the family of four who were injured in the incident.

Authorities have confirmed that two of the eight people who were injured have been admitted to hospital, while the others have luckily come off with very light injuries.

A district magistrate of the area, Laure Chabaud, said that the attack was most likely a dispute between delinquent youths in the area, however, nothing has been confirmed as of yet.

The criminal investigation unit have taken over the investigation of the attack.

The attacks comes just a few days after an Armenian man tried to drive a van into a crowd outside of a mosque in Paris. He crashed into barriers on the side of the road before injuring any people.

Authorities have said that the man suffers from schizophrenia.

France has been on high alert after a string of terrorist attacks in the past two years. The country remains in a state of emergency.