Firefighter shot while tackling vehicle fire near Marseille, man arrested after standoff

The shooting

On Sunday, 1 November, firefighters were called to a fire involving a heavy goods vehicle and light vehicles in Les Pennes-Mirabeau, a commune just north of Marseille in the Bouches-du-Rhône department. According to 20minutes, the blaze was in the Plan de Campagne shopping area, and the crews were attacked with a firearm by an assailant who then holed up close by. Prefect Jacques Witkowski told AFP that the firefighter commanding the operation, an adjudant-chef, was very seriously wounded by gunfire. The prefect said the gunman had first stayed barricaded at the scene before being handed over to the judicial police.

Standoff and arrest

According to VRT NWS, police cordoned off a wide area and set up a security perimeter around the shopping district. Armed units were trying to take the suspect into custody as quickly as possible, while the local governor and the police chief went to the scene to coordinate the operation. 20minutes reported that the man had barricaded himself in a caravan, and that the elite Raid unit had been sent to the site, citing La Provence.

Government response

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez announced the shooting on X and said the exact circumstances still had to be established. He also said police were mobilised to arrest the attacker and that the prefect was on site.

“The exact circumstances still need to be established. Police services are mobilised to arrest the perpetrator.”

Nuñez said the injured firefighter had been taken into care and expressed outrage at what he called a violent, unprovoked attack on firefighters who put themselves at risk to protect others. Eric Brocardi, spokesman for the French fire service, also reacted, saying that attacks on rescue workers strike at the foundations of society and that helping others should never be life-threatening.

Situation as reported

The operation to arrest the attacker was still under way on Sunday evening, according to 20minutes, which said more information would follow. Reports so far give no further details on the injured firefighter's condition beyond the description of very serious wounds. The exact sequence of the shooting has not yet been established by the authorities.