French police were searching Thursday for an unidentified man who threw a grenade into a bar late Wednesday in the southeastern Alpine city of Grenoble, wounding 15 people, at least two of them seriously, according to health officials.
Regional prosecutor Francois Touret de Coucy told reporters witness at the scene reported that shortly after 8 p.m. local time, the man entered the Aksehir bar in what the prosecutor described as a “rough” part of the city, tossed in a grenade and fled, without saying a word.
The suspect was also reported to have been carrying an assault rifle but did not use it.
The prosecutor told the French news agency AFP there was no reason to think the attack was related to terrorism, but the motive is still unknown. He said they are exploring the possibility the attack was drug-related.
French Health Minister Yannick Neuder spoke with reporters Thursday at the Grenoble University Hospital where many of the victims were being treated. He described the wounds as mostly “cuts and organ perforations.” He condemned the attack, which he described as an “an act of unimaginable violence.”
Grenoble Mayor Eric Piolle also spoke to reporters Thursday, expressing his shock at the nature of the attack, calling it “a new kind of violence.” He said he intended to discuss the incident and the general increase in violent crime with French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, who was reportedly due to visit the crime scene.
The bar is in a neighborhood that was part of the Olympic Village when Grenoble hosted the 1968 Winter Olympic Games.
Deputy Mayor Chloe Pantel told AFP the bar is "a spot where locals and people from outside the neighborhood gather, especially to watch soccer matches." Several Champions League matches were being played Wednesday night.
