Brittany shooting: Suspected killer of British schoolgirl 'threatened family before'
A man suspected of the fatal shooting of an 11-year-old British girl as she played in her garden during a family barbecue in France had previously threatened the family, neighbours have claimed.
The girl, named Solenne, was reportedly playing on the swings with her younger sister Celeste at around 10pm on Saturday, when a suspect opened fire in the village of Saint-Herbot, near Brittany.
Their father, named locally as Adrian Thornon, was seriously injured and taken to hospital where he remains in critical condition, while their mother Rachel was also hurt but her wounds are not thought to be severe.
The younger girl was unharmed. Neighbour Yannick Valory told le Télégramme he heard Celeste shouting “My sister is dead, my sister is dead,” moments after the shooting.
The family’s 71-year-old Dutch neighbour has been arrested on suspicion of killing the girl, prosecutors said. The attack took place amid reports of an acrimonious dispute over a plot of land adjoining their two properties in the village.
Neighbours said police were previously called after the suspect apparently threatened the family.
Previous threat made
Sébastien and Marie-Céline, whose home neighbours the Dutch couple, described them as “very distant” after they moved to the village seven years ago, according to the Le Télégramme newspaper.
“Three years ago, he (the suspect) kicked up a fuss with Adrian and Rachel after they cleared their garden and (which he said) prevented them from feeling at home.
“He threatened (them) with a weapon and the police were called,” said Marie-Céline.
“His wife was more polite but since that day we kept a low profile and just said good day or good evening to them,” she said.
The family were said to be having a barbecue on Saturday in the garden of their home outside the village of Plonévez-du-Faou in the department of Finistère, where they have lived for around four years.
‘My sister is dead, my sister is dead’
At around 10pm, their neighbour is said to have rushed from his house with a gun and fired a volley of shots at the family.
Carine Halley, the state prosecutor in Quimper, Brittany, said that when police arrived, the 11-year-old was dead and her father, 52, was seriously injured after being “hit in the head”.
He was taken to hospital where he remains in a critical condition, she said.
After the fatal attack, the Dutch pensioner then shut himself in his house with his wife. Police swarmed the property and negotiated with the suspect until he surrendered himself at around 11pm.
Mr Valory told le Télégramme: “We heard the bangs and we thought it was children playing with bangers. Then the kid ran into a neighbour’s house saying: ‘My sister is dead, my sister is dead’.”
Neighbours told how the family were planning to travel to Manchester next month to celebrate the 80th birthday of the girls’ grandmother.
Mayor - ‘incomprehensible to shoot child’
Marguerite Bleuzen, the mayor of Plonévez-du-Faou, said: “We knew the family well. There is a village fête every year and they always came. They are not a family who caused problems.”
The mayor said that she had been aware of “neighbourly problems”.
“I intervened with my deputies when we were elected. There was a problem with the land, some noise issues,” she told BFMTV.
“But it is incomprehensible to have shot a child.”
Another neighbour said that the dispute with the Dutch pensioner began when they “cut down all the trees that bothered them”.
Françoise, who also lives in the hamlet, said the neighbour was a recluse who had complained the British family made too much noise. “But it was in the daytime and they didn’t make more noise than anyone else. No one else was bothered by it.”
