A 71-year-old Dutchman shot dead his 11-year-old girl next door in her garden on Saturday evening in the French hamlet of Saint-Herbot in Brittany.
He also injured her parents. The man was arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder, local media reported on Sunday.
The girl is said to have been swinging in the garden with her 8-year-old sister at around 10 p.m. Saturday night, when the man suddenly shot several times in their direction. The 11-year-old girl was fatally injured and died on the spot. The parents, who were also in the garden, were also hit by bullets. The father was seriously injured and his life is in danger. The mother suffered minor injuries. The sister was unharmed.
After his act, the Dutchman would have locked himself up with his wife in their house, where the police later arrested him. The cause of the shooting is not yet known, but according to French media, the man had a ground conflict with his neighbors. The Dutchman and his wife had been living in Saint-Herbot for three years, the neighbors, a British family, for five years.