According to breaking news reports, several gunmen wearing hoods opened fire on a french crowd in Marseille with automatic weapons, before getting into a gunfight with police. So far only one person has been reported injured, but if this is as bad as it sounds, I would be expecting more:
DAILY STAR – The shooting happened in the French city of Marseille just after five o’clock this evening local time.
The men, armed with the machine guns and wearing hoods, arrived in three vehicles before opening fire on a group of young people.
A gun battle with police then took place.
Police have set up a security perimeter around the crime scene, and armed police and officers from the Marseille Naval Fire Battalion are on the scene.
Cops confirmed that the gunmen are on the run after opening fire near “La Busserine” cultural space in the city.
A man in his thirties was injured in a fight with the gunmen and rushed to hospital.
Local media reports that the police were responding to the shooting when a dark Renault Megane blocked their path.
Two men armed with a 9mm pistol and a Kalashnikov got out of the vehicle and shot in the air before fleeing the scene.
We’ll keep you updated as we learn more…
UPDATE:
Here’s what the Daily Mail reports…
A group of masked attackers in three cars fired AK-47 assault rifles at young people in the French city of Marseille this evening, local media has reported.
One man is said to be ‘slightly injured’ after the assault, which began at about 5pm and which included the use of handguns.
The gunmen began firing at a crowd of young people outside the city’s cultural centre.
There was then a shoot-out with police before the attackers fled.
According to France Bleu, some of the gunmen were seen travelling in a Renault Megane, which blocked a police car responding to the shooting.
Between two and four men then got out of the car and began firing.
The police reportedly shot back at the car and hit one of its windows, but it escaped.
There were no serious injuries, but one man was treated for a wound to his head.
Investigators said they found 9mm and 7.62mm cartridges at the scene.
The Daily Mail says there will be more to follow, but it sounds like there isn’t much new coming out on this.
UPDATE 2:
Here’s what France 24 says happened via police (Google Translate from French):
Police were “put in play” by men armed with Kalashnikovs after a shooting in a sensitive city of Marseille Monday in the afternoon, we learned from the police headquarters.
“No gunshot wounded but a person, who spontaneously came to the police, was injured in the head by a stick carried by a criminal,” said the same source confirming information from Provence.
Around 16:50, police officers of the anti-crime brigade intervened in the city of Busserine (14th district), high-place drug trafficking in Marseille, following “many shots” heard by residents, a it is explained from police sources.
“Many casings were found on the spot,” they said.
Upon arrival, the first police crew was intercepted by a car carrying two criminals – one armed with a Kalashnikov “long gun”, the second with a handgun– who shot in the air, detailed the police headquarters.
Another police car then arrived in reinforcement before being, too, blocked by a second vehicle where were four men who “put in play” the two policemen, continued the same source.
One of the police then fired a glass of the vehicle of the criminals who immediately fled.
It’s a little difficult to make sense out of, but sounds like it was drug related. They say they found man bullet casings, so I’m not sure if anyone else was injured or not.