A grenade was tossed into a busy bar in Grenoble, southeast France leaving twelve hurt, two critically, on Wednesday night. The assailant, who was carrying an automatic rifle, burst into the venue, tossed the explosive, and escaped without uttering a word.
Francois Touret de Courcy, the regional public prosecutor, denounced the attack as “an act of extreme violence” but dismissed the possibility of a terrorist motive. The police are investigating the idea of a gang fight, given that the city has witnessed gang-related crimes attributed to cigarette and drug trafficking.
Authorities said the attacker seemed to be carrying a Kalashnikov-style assault rifle but did not fire it. The blast, which took place at 8:15 p.m. in Grenoble’s Olympic Village district, shattered the windows of the bar. Six individuals were seriously injured, with three undergoing emergency surgery.
Isere department prefect Catherine Seguin condemned the assault as a “cowardly criminal act,” while Grenoble Mayor Eric Piolle was outraged by the “extraordinary violence.” France’s Health Minister Yannick Neuder, after he visited the victims in hospital, pledged that the state would take on such violence.
Medical staff reported that the wounds were like those encountered in war-torn areas. Authorities are still hunting for the suspect and determining the motive for the attack.
