1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites

Deadly shootout at Roma camp in France

August 25, 2015

France's gendarmerie says four people have been killed and at least three wounded in a shootout in northern France. Police say the shooting suspect is in custody.

https://p.dw.com/p/1GLT5
Frankreich Schießerei in Roye
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/D. Touchart

The shootout killed a police officer and an unidentified man, a woman and a six-month-old baby at a Roma camp in Roye, France, authorities said Tuesday.

Investigators on scene

Frankreich Schießerei in Roye
The shooting is understood to have taken place at 4.30 p.m. (1430 UTC) in a Roma camp near Roye in the Somme.Image: picture-alliance/dpa/D. Touchart

Officers responding to the reports of gunfire at the Roma encampment opened fire after being fired upon, police said.

An officer was killed and another wounded in the ensuing gun battle; the gunman was also wounded and detained.

A three-year-old child was also seriously wounded, the Reuters news agency reported.

The circumstances and motive for the killings near the town of Roye have yet to be established, police sources said. Alcohol was suspected to be a factor, and the unidentified gunman was a resident of the Roma camp, police said.

Roye is about 110 kilometers (68 miles) north of Paris.

jar/jil (AP, AFP)