France mosque shooting: Macron condemns 'heinous' attack

Elderly former ultra-right party candidate was arrested on Monday

(FILES) In this file photo taken on March 5, 2015 people enter the Mosque of Bayonne, southwestern France. Two people were injured on October 28, 2019 when shots were fired near a mosque in Bayonne in southwest France, police said, adding the suspected gunman has been arrested. The man was arrested near his home after the incident that also involved a small explosion, presumably from a petrol can set on fire near the place of worship on October 28, 2019 afternoon. / AFP / Iroz Gaizka
Claire Corkery
Oct 28, 2019
Beta V.1.0 - Powered by automated translation

French President Emmanuel Macron condemned  a "heinous" attack on a mosque in the southern city of Bayonne on Monday.

A former ultra-right party candidate, who is aged in his eighties, shot and wounded two people and tried to burn the building.

It is thought the two injured men were shot at when they found a man trying to set fire to the mosque's door.

A man was later arrested by police near his home in Saint-Martin de Seignanx, 16 kilometres north of Bayonne.

A gun and a gas canister were found in his car.

"The Republic will never tolerate hatred," the president tweeted. "Everything will be done to punish the perpetrators and protect our Muslim compatriots. I commit myself to it."

Read More
Notre-Dame bomb plot: Female terror cell jailed for up to 30 years
Hunt for motive of employee who killed four at Paris police headquarters

The victims, aged 74 and 78, were being treated in hospital.

WEEKEND EDITION
MORE FROM THE NATIONAL