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| At least 1 dead after armed man storms retirement home in Montpellier, France | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| An armed man stormed a retirement home for monks in Montpellier, France, on Thursday evening, according to media reports. | An armed man stormed a retirement home for monks in Montpellier, France, on Thursday evening, according to media reports. |
| At least one person was found dead, after the gunman entered around 9:45pm local time. The supervisor at the institution was reportedly able to issue an alert before she was fatally stabbed. | |
| A special intervention unit of the gendarmerie, the PSIG-Sabre, is sweeping the premises. All floors of the property were inspected, a Parisien correspondent reported from the scene. The police proceeded to sweep the home's basements and outbuildings. | |
| At least 59 nursing home residents were rescued, a source close to the investigation told AFP. However, the suspect is still on the loose. | |
| Witnesses say the man was wearing a hoodie and carrying a gun. It is not know if the firearm was discharged, but the suspect is still believed to be on site. According to an AFP source, the hooded individual also had a knife and possibly a shotgun. | |
| The motives of the attacker are unknown. A source told Reuters that at this time, there was "no indication" that the attack was linked to terrorism. | |
| A large police force, including the Herault gendarmerie group, has been deployed to the African mission retirement home, e-metropolitain reports. | A large police force, including the Herault gendarmerie group, has been deployed to the African mission retirement home, e-metropolitain reports. |
| The nursing home was established in 1994 and is administered by Les Chenes Verts association. | |
| The mayor of the town of Montferrier-sur-Lez, Michel Fraysse (LR), told AFP that 60 former missionaries to Africa, as well as six or seven lay people, live at the home. He added that "security forces, firemen, and ... ambulances" are at the scene. | |
| France, which remains under a state of emergency following the horrific November 13, 2015 attacks in Paris which left 130 people dead and hundreds wounded, already suffered an attack on a clergy member earlier this year. In July an 84-year-old Catholic priest was murdered by two Islamic State attackers during morning mass at the parish church in Saint Etienne-du-Rouvray, a suburb of Rouen. | |
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