An ex-soldier fired Wednesday evening near Toulouse a bullet in the head of a man who refused to give him a cigarette, before being arrested at his home by the GIGN, according to the Toulouse prosecutor’s office.
The shooter “was quickly located, contact was established shortly before 4:00 a.m. and then he was arrested by the GIGN,” said Toulouse prosecutor Samuel Vuelta-Simon. The 45-year-old victim was hospitalized and was in critical condition on Thursday morning.
The former soldier arrested in the early morning
According to the prosecution and sources close to the investigation, the scene took place Wednesday shortly after 8:00 p.m. on a bank of the Tarn, in Bessières, 30 km from Toulouse. The shooter, 49, then took refuge in his house in the center of this town of 4,000 inhabitants.
The perimeter was cordoned off overnight from Wednesday to Thursday around the house. Around 6:40 a.m., gendarmes from the GIGN, from Paris and Toulouse, intervened and were able to arrest the former soldier, who lived alone with his dog.
Witnesses were to be heard by investigators on Thursday.