2 wounded after police sniper mistakenly shoots during French president's speech

(Image credit: Yohan Bonnet/AFP/Getty Images)

published 28 February 2017

While making remarks at the inauguration of a new high-speed train system line on Tuesday, French President Francois Hollande was interrupted by the sound of a gunshot, with French media reporting a police sniper accidentally fired his weapon.

Two people were wounded in the incident — a waiter working with a catering company whose calf was grazed by the bullet and an employee of the train line who was shot in the leg, Sud Ouest reports. Their injuries are not life-threatening. Hollande didn't panic when he heard the shot, but did look offstage and said, "I hope that it's nothing serious." The police sniper was on a roof as part of security detail, an official in Villognon said, and fired when he was adjusting his position.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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