Orthodox priest shot in Lyon, France; assailant flees: police source
The shooting comes three days after three people were killed in a knife rampage inside a church in the southern town of Nice. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
A Greek Orthodox priest was shot and injured on Saturday at a church in the centre of the French city of Lyon by an assailant who then fled, a police source and witnesses said.
The priest was fired on twice at around 4pm (1400 GMT) as he was closing the church, and he was being treated on site for life-threatening injuries, the source said.
Witnesses said the church was Greek Orthodox. Police immediately cordoned off the area.
The incident came two days after a man beheaded a woman and killed two other people in a church in Nice. Two weeks ago a schoolteacher in a Paris suburb was beheaded by an 18-year-old attacker who was apparently incensed by the teacher showing a blasphemous caricature of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) during a class.
Government ministers had warned that other militant attacks could take place. President Emmanuel Macron has deployed thousands of soldiers to protect sites such as places of worship and schools.
Many Muslims around the world have been angered about France’s defence of the right to publish cartoons depicting the Prophet (PBUH) under the garb of "freedom of expression".