Thierry Creux/Maxppp/Zuma
The girl was in the garden with her family when her neighbor showed up with a gun and opened fire, authorities said.
Paris CNN –
An 11-year-old British girl was shot dead in Saint-Herbot in Brittany, western France, during a dispute between two neighbors over their gardens on Saturday, according to the local mayor’s office.
The girl’s parents were seriously injured in the gun attack. Her 8-year-old sister escaped and was found “unharmed but in a state of shock,” Quimper prosecutor Carine Halley said in a statement on Sunday.
The family were in their garden when their 71-year-old Dutch neighbor showed up with a firearm and fired multiple times in their direction before locking himself inside his home with his wife, authorities say.
The police intervened at 10 p.m. local time. The 11-year-old was found dead and her father suffered a life-threatening head injury, while her mother was also injured but is not in critical condition, Halley said.
An hour later, the Dutchman and his wife surrendered and were taken into custody.
Sophie PréVost/Maxppp/ZUMA
French authorities are investigating the attack.
Régine Guillot, an administrative worker at Plonevez-du-Faou town hall, told CNN on Monday that the shooting was caused by a disagreement over garden noise and the felling of trees at property lines.
The shooter was angry at his neighbor who cut down trees that shaded his property, Guillot said, adding that the dispute had been going on for at least two years.
“We thought they were playing with firecrackers,” Yannick, a neighbor who heard the gunshots, told CNN affiliate BFMTV.
“The youngest girl ran to the neighbors and yelled, ‘My sister is dead, my sister is dead,'” Yannick said.
Halley said Sunday, “The motives for the tragedy are not yet known.” But according to the initial investigation, “there appears to have been a dispute between the two neighbors for several years over a property adjacent to the two properties.”
The Quimper public prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation into the manslaughter of a minor and attempted murder.
Marguerite Bleuzen, the mayor of Plonévez-du-Faou, a town bordering Saint-Herbot, told BFMTV on Sunday she was made aware of a dispute between neighbors a few years ago.
“I interceded with my deputies when we were elected. There was a problem with the property and noise complaints,” Bleuzen said.
“I’m speechless,” added the mayor.