Bayonne mosque shooting

The Bayonne mosque shooting was an attack carried out on 28 October 2019.[1] An 84-year-old man attacked a mosque in the southwestern French town of Bayonne. He seriously injured two people by gunfire.[1] The police arrested the suspect.[1] He is said to have taken part in the 2015 regional elections as a candidate for the far-right Front National (today the Rassemblement National).[1]

Bayonne mosque shooting
LocationBayonne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France
Coordinates43°30′13″N 1°26′32″W / 43.50362°N 1.44214°W / 43.50362; -1.44214
Date28 October 2019
TargetMuslims
Attack type
Shooting, failed arson
WeaponHandgun
Deaths0
Injured2
PerpetratorClaude Sinké
MotiveIslamophobia

According to the French police, the man is said to have tried to lay a kind of incendiary in front of the mosque at around 15:20 local time.[2][1] He was disturbed by two men and then fired several shots at them.[1] The two men were seriously injured. He then set fire to a car and fled.[3][1] Police found a gas canister and a handgun in the car of the suspect.

Police later arrested the 84-year-old suspect, who was locally known as Claude Sinké at his home in Saint-Martin-de-Seignanx. He is also accused of trying to burn down the mosque.[4]

Sinké died in prison on 26 February 2020, aged 84.[5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Police arrest 84-year-old man over gun and arson attack at French mosque". The Guardian. 28 October 2019. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  2. ^ "Two injured in French mosque shootings". 28 October 2019 – via www.bbc.com.
  3. ^ "Zwei Verletzte nach Schüssen im französischen Bayonne". tagesschau.de.
  4. ^ Chazan, David (28 October 2019). "France mosque shooting: Man in his 80s arrested after two shot in Bayonne" – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  5. ^ Attaque de la mosquée de Bayonne: Le tireur présumé est mort en prison (in French)