2 injured in French mosque shooting, 84yo suspect arrested

Two people were wounded by gunfire outside a mosque in the French town of Bayonne. Police have arrested a suspect, reportedly a military veteran in his eighties.

The man allegedly drove onto the grounds of the mosque at around 3pm on Monday afternoon and shot two people. They were taken to Bayonne hospital. The man also used an incendiary device to set a car on fire, local authorities said.  

Police told France Bleu Radio that they arrested the suspect near his home in nearby Saint-Martin-de-Seignanx, where they found a gun and gas cylinder in his car, and grenades inside the property.

The suspect is believed to be an 84-year-old military veteran, and reportedly has cancer. 

Citing an anonymous source, Reuters reported that the suspect had connections to the French right, and had been a political candidate for Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party in provincial elections in 2015. Le Pen herself - a vocal critic of Islam - denounced the attack as an “unspeakable act absolutely contrary to all the values carried by our movement.”

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