In a tragic incident, one person was killed and five others were wounded when several masked gunmen opened fire at a wedding ceremony in Thionville, northeastern France, police sources reported on Sunday.
The attack, which occurred overnight from Saturday to Sunday, is suspected to be linked to a settling of scores between drug traffickers. The shooting took place at a reception hall with around a hundred attendees.
Among the injured, two people were reported to be in serious condition, with one in critical condition. The gunmen fled the scene immediately after the attack.
“It was during a wedding,” a police source confirmed. “At a quarter past one in the morning, a group of people went outside to smoke in front of the hall, and then three heavily armed men arrived and opened fire in their direction.”
The assailants arrived in a 4×4 vehicle, possibly a BMW. The exact origin of the vehicle remains unclear. Thionville is situated near the borders of Luxembourg and Germany, complicating the investigation.
Law enforcement authorities believe that the violence stemmed from a drug trafficking dispute and that the wedding itself was not the intended target, but rather individuals attending the event.
A glass door with bullet holes could be seen at the scene on Sunday morning, marking the violent aftermath of the attack. This incident follows another violent confrontation in the nearby town of Villerupt in May 2023, where shootings between rival gangs at a drug dealing point left five people injured.
The investigation is ongoing as authorities seek to apprehend the perpetrators and determine the full circumstances surrounding the attack.
