PARIS: A gunman opened fire from a car near a mosque in the French city of Brest, leaving two people injured, including the Imam, local media reported.
Brest Prosecutor Jean-Philippe Recappe said the gunman opened fire as people left the mosque in the city’s Pontanezen neighborhood.
After shooting at the Mosque, the assailant’s car was later found by the police. His dead-body lied close to the car, with a gunshot wound to his head, which led the police to believe that he acted alone.
The injured victims are now reported to be ‘doing okay’.
The local newspaper, Le Telegramme, reported that the Imam was target specifically due to his social media following on Facebook, and the fact that he has made quite controversial and inaccurate remarks online in the past, that might have provoked the shooter.
Even though the Imam’s house as well as the mosque were raided, which led people to assume it was an act of extremism by the assailant, no legal prosecutions occurred, and the Imam ‘Richad Eljay’ has now over 1 million likes on Facebook as of Friday.
