President Nicolas Sarkozy vowed severe punishment on Monday after 17 people were wounded when a French soldier mistakenly opened fire with live ammunition during a display at an army base.
The 28-year-old sergeant fired his assault rifle into a crowd of hundreds of visitors watching a mock hostage rescue operation Sunday at the base near the southwestern city of Carcassonne.The 28-year-old sergeant fired his assault rifle into a crowd of hundreds of visitors watching a mock hostage rescue operation Sunday at the base near the southwestern city of Carcassonne. Montpellier prosecutor Brice Robin said police were examining video footage of the shooting taken by another soldier and which showed the sergeant reloading his weapon after firing 25 shots.
"He was carrying several magazines and the tragedy is that he picked one that was in his pocket and which unfortunately carried live ammo," Robin told a news conference.He said that the ammunition was kept from a military operation that the suspect had taken part in earlier this month and "should not have been left there. That is why he is being held."Fifteen bystanders including five children were shot during the display as were two soldiers. A witness , who asked not to be named, told AFP he saw seven or eight soldiers with guns taking part in the simulation, one of whom was posing as a terrorist in the middle of the spectators."Suddenly, people were falling, we thought it was part of the exercise, and then we saw blood," he said.
Immediately after the real shots were fired, "an official shouted out over the loudspeakers 'Cease fire!'," he said.The three-year-old boy was operated on overnight and was in a stable condition, hospital officials said, adding that two of the victims were in a "serious" condition but all were stable.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080630/wl … vtzEBvaA8F
The 28-year-old sergeant fired his assault rifle into a crowd of hundreds of visitors watching a mock hostage rescue operation Sunday at the base near the southwestern city of Carcassonne.The 28-year-old sergeant fired his assault rifle into a crowd of hundreds of visitors watching a mock hostage rescue operation Sunday at the base near the southwestern city of Carcassonne. Montpellier prosecutor Brice Robin said police were examining video footage of the shooting taken by another soldier and which showed the sergeant reloading his weapon after firing 25 shots.
"He was carrying several magazines and the tragedy is that he picked one that was in his pocket and which unfortunately carried live ammo," Robin told a news conference.He said that the ammunition was kept from a military operation that the suspect had taken part in earlier this month and "should not have been left there. That is why he is being held."Fifteen bystanders including five children were shot during the display as were two soldiers. A witness , who asked not to be named, told AFP he saw seven or eight soldiers with guns taking part in the simulation, one of whom was posing as a terrorist in the middle of the spectators."Suddenly, people were falling, we thought it was part of the exercise, and then we saw blood," he said.
Immediately after the real shots were fired, "an official shouted out over the loudspeakers 'Cease fire!'," he said.The three-year-old boy was operated on overnight and was in a stable condition, hospital officials said, adding that two of the victims were in a "serious" condition but all were stable.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080630/wl … vtzEBvaA8F
