LYON, France (AP) — French police say a Greek Orthodox priest has been shot while closing his church in the city of Lyon, and authorities are hunting for the assailant.
A police official says the priest was taken to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries after being hit in the abdomen on Saturday.
The official says the priest is a Greek citizen and the attacker was alone and fired from a hunting rifle.
On Twitter, the French Interior Ministry wrote "an event is underway near the Jean-Macé sector, in the 7th arrondissement in Lyon. Security and rescue forces are there. A security perimeter has been installed."
You should avoid the area, the minister added.
🔴 #ALERTE | Un événement est en cours à proximité du secteur Jean-Macé, dans le 7ème arrondissement à #Lyon.
Les forces de sécurité et de secours sont sur place. Un périmètre de sécurité a été installé.
⚠️ Évitez le secteur et suivez les consignes des autorités. pic.twitter.com/ZZxeTADcAF— Ministère de l'Intérieur - Alerte (@Beauvau_Alerte) October 31, 2020
The reason for the shooting was unclear.
It happened two days after an Islamic extremist knife attack at a Catholic church in the French city of Nice that killed three people and amid tensions over a French newspaper's publication of caricatures mocking the Muslim Prophet Muhammad.