A woman has been found dead after an armed man entered a retirement home for former missionaries near Montpellier, according to French media reports.Police responded to the incident late on Thursday evening in Montferrier-sur-Lez in the south of the country.The home for former missionaries to Africa has been evacuated, but the suspect remains at large.
The incident took place in Montferrier-sur-Lez village near the city of Montpellier Thursday night. The attacker reportedly carried a sawed-off shotgun and a knife, broke into the retirement home called “Green Oaks” and killed the woman.A caretaker of the retirement home alerted the authorities about the incident. The body of the victim was found gagged and tied up outside the retirement home building, according to police. The identity of the deceased was not released.
The body of the dead woman was found gagged and tied up outside the building, an official said.Police searched the building extensively, but the suspect had fled the scene.
“For the time being, there is only one victim,”
-Montpellier prosecutor Christophe Barret told the AFP news agency.
“For the moment there is no particular evidence about the motive for this crime.”
Alain Berthet, a local councilor in Montferrier-sur-Luz, told Agence France-Presse that residents of the retirement home are “are very elderly with an average age of 75 although some are more than 90.”
The man was not known to authorities.
