Schoolgirl from British family shot dead in France

An 11-year-old girl from a British family has been shot dead in her garden in France while her father is seriously injured, according to reports.

A neighbour is said to have shot at the girl on Saturday evening in a hamlet near the city of Quimper in the western province of Brittany. Her eight-year-old sister was left in “shock”, local media reported.

The family were enjoying a warm evening on Saturday in their garden in the small village of Saint Herbot, near Quimper, when a Dutch neighbour shot at them several times, the prosecutor said.

The girl’s parents were both hurt, with her father suffering life-threatening wounds, the prosecutor said.

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“Initial evidence suggests the victims’ neighbour, a 71-year-old Dutch pensioner, suddenly appeared armed with a firearm and fired several shots in the direction of the victims ... before retreating to his home with his wife,” the Quimper prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

The Dutchman surrendered when a police negotiator coaxed him out of his property. The suspect has been arrested.

The local prosecutor said the motive was not immediately clear but that the two families had been embroiled in a years-long row over a plot of land adjoining the two properties.

The British Foreign Office is providing assistance to her family. A spokesman said: “We are providing consular assistance to a British family following a shooting in France and are in contact with the local authorities.”

Carine Halley, the state prosecutor in Quimper, said the child was dead and her father, who is about 40-years-old, was seriously injured when police arrived, the Times reported.

Ms Halley said he was taken to hospital in a critical condition and initial evidence suggests “the suspect suddenly emerged armed with a gun and fired several times towards the victims”, the newspaper reported.

A local resident told French media that the younger child raised the alarm, running to neighbours shouting: “My sister is dead, my sister is dead.”

The Times said the family-of-four are believed to have lived in their current home for about four or five years and that the two girls were born in France.

Marguerite Bleuzen, the mayor of the nearby village of Plonevez-du-Faou, is reported to have said the family were well-known and came to the village fete. – PA/Reuters