Bride shot dead on wedding night in France
A bride has been shot dead by a masked assailant at her wedding in a village in south-east France.
One of the attackers also died and three other people, including a 13-year-old child, were injured in the attack, which happened in the village of Goult, Luberon.
The identity of the suspects is unknown, but police believe the incident may be drug-related.
At about 4.30am on Sunday, the bride, 27, and the 25-year-old groom were leaving the wedding party when they were confronted by four masked assailants who opened fire.
Initial reports suggested one of the attackers had been run over by the couple's car as the groom tried to escape, but Florence Galtier, the Avignon prosecutor, referred to the suspect as having been shot 'in the exchange'.
About 28 people were present at the gathering during the attack, police said. One woman, thought to be the groom's sister, was lightly injured. According to the prosecutor, the attackers arrived by car and carried several weapons, but fled on foot.
The groom, said to be from Cavaillon, is well known to the police, with 26 entries in the criminal records database, according to a police source cited by Le Figaro. The bride, from Apt, Provence, was not known to the authorities.
'I'm ruling nothing out'
An investigation into a murder by an organised gang has been opened by police, and several police cars blocked access to the scene on Sunday morning.
Didier Perello, the Goult mayor, said: 'I'm angry. I'm outraged.' Mr Perello did not rule out possible score-settling, saying: 'I'm ruling nothing out. Absolutely nothing.
'We're close to towns, I won't name them, where unfortunately, we've already seen this kind of thing before.'
According to the mayor, the village hall had been booked by the couple in March. 'The hall had been rented for a wedding by people who don't live in the commune,' he added.
Restaurant owner Guillaume Molinas, 50, told AFP he feared that the tragedy would 'give the village a bad name', adding: 'The last major incident in the village was 125 years ago.'
The French government has recently vowed to ramp up the fight against drug-related crime.
Another shooting took place at about 6am on Sunday in the city of Avignon, in the same Vaucluse region. A man was shot dead in the Cap Sud shopping centre area, while a second person was injured and is in a serious condition.
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