the alleged shooter arrested, what we know about the victims

The author of the shooting which broke out this Thursday, June 1, 2023 in Nantua (Ain) surrendered to the gendarmerie. One person died and several others were injured by the gunfire. A murder investigation is opened.

The pressure is coming down a bit in Nantua. The author of the shooting which broke out this Thursday, June 1, 2023 in the small town of Ain, went around 3 p.m. to the gendarmerie. Since this morning, the 29-year-old individual living in the town had been holed up in a building in the city center. The suspect’s mother was also arrested a little earlier by the police, according to information from the Progress.

The arrested suspect opened fire around 10:30 a.m. inside the café-brasserie nestled in the heart of the town. He then fled, on foot, according to France 3 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, before finding refuge for several hours in a building. Nantua town center was cordoned off and the street where the alleged shooter was hiding was evacuated in the early afternoon. The reasons for this shooting have not yet been determined, but the track of settling scores is mentioned and seems privileged.

One dead and several injured

During the attack, the author of the shooting seemed to target a father and his son who were seated on the terrace of the café. A young man was killed and several other people were injured by the shots according to the local branch of France 3 which indicates that the man killed in the shooting is 19 years old. There are at least two injured, including a 31-year-old, injured in the abdomen and treated in absolute emergency at Lyon Sud hospital. Another person had a heart attack. Whether BFM TV has two wounded, Progress counts three.

An investigation opened for assassination

A flagrant investigation for the murder chief was opened by the Bourg-en-Bresse prosecutor’s office after the shooting which left one dead and several injured, BFMTV reported. The Lyon research section is in charge of the investigations. The hearing of the alleged perpetrator arrested by the gendarmerie could advance the investigation.

The case does not seem to have any terrorist connotation for the moment, said the prosecution. The track favored by the gendarmes suggests that the shooting was a response to a settling of scores.

The security device lifted in Nantua

After several hours of confinement for the inhabitants of Nantua, the security system put in place to find the alleged perpetrator of the shooting was lifted around 4 p.m., by decision of the Ain prefecture. On the morning of Thursday, June 1, the inhabitants of the towns were invited not to leave their homes and to avoid all travel. Schools in the city were confined for the safety of children and traders were forced to close shop. The street in which the shooter took refuge was even evacuated by the police. With the lifting of the device, the crisis cell set up at the prefecture is also closed and replaced by a psychological cell.

More than 50 gendarmes were mobilized, including a GIGN team, to find the arrested individual. Helicopters were also deployed to fly over downtown Nantua in search of the shooter.