Man killed ‘in row over Christmas decorations’

Christmas got off to a tragic start in a picturesque village in the south of France on Sunday, as an elderly man allegedly shot and killed his friend and neighbour, reportedly after an alcohol-fuelled argument over, of all things, Christmas decorations.

Published: 23 December 2013 17:09 CET

Man killed 'in row over Christmas decorations'

A 69-year-old man in southern France is alleged to have shot and killed a neighbour, reportedly after an alcohol-fuelled row over Christmas decorations. Photo: Lauren Hewings

The festive season, as well as bringing joy and good cheer, is well known to be a time of heightened stress and tension in homes across the world.

Such was the case in one French household on Sunday, as an elderly man allegedly shot and killed his friend and neighbour, reportedly after an argument over Christmas decorations, according to local newspaper Nice Matin.

Daniel P., a 69-year-old resident of Aspremont, a small village in the Alpes-Maritimes department, near the city of Nice, invited his friend and neighbour Jean-Louis S. to his home on Sunday evening.

Though the exact details of Sunday evening’s events hadn’t yet been confirmed, local police indicated that after a day of heavy drinking, the two pals became embroiled in a dispute over that most trivial of Christmas traditions – putting up decorations.

After the argument quickly spiralled out of control, Daniel P. allegedly left to retrieve a 7.65 calibre pistol, returned to the scene, and shot his friend once, at around 6.30 pm.

Emergency services were rapidly called to the house, but Jean-Louis S. died from his gunshot some 30 minutes later, his death being confirmed on the scene by a medical examiner.

Local police, meanwhile, transported the suspect to Saint-Roch hospital in Nice, where his alcohol levels were tested and, according to Nice Matin, his condition was such that investigators were unable even to formally take him in for questioning on Sunday night.

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The French Jewish community, the third largest in the world, has for months been on edge in the face of a growing number of attacks and desecrations of memorials.

“National police in Rouen neutralised early this morning an armed individual who clearly wanted to set fire to the city’s synagogue,” Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Police responded at 6.45 am to reports of “fire near the synagogue”, a police source said.

A source close to the case told AFP the man “was armed with a knife and an iron bar, he approached police, who fired. The individual died”.

“It is not only the Jewish community that is affected. It is the entire city of Rouen that is bruised and in shock,” Rouen Mayor Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol wrote on X.

He made clear there were no other victims other than the attacker.

Two separate investigations have been opened, one into the fire at the synagogue and another into the circumstances of the death of the individual killed by the police, Rouen prosecutors said.

Such an investigation by France’s police inspectorate general is automatic whenever an individual is killed by the police.

The man threatened a police officer with a knife and the latter used his service weapon, said the Rouen prosecutor.

The dead man was not immediately identified, a police source said.

Asked by AFP, the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office said that it is currently assessing whether it will take up the case.

France has the largest Jewish community of any country after Israel and the United States, as well as Europe’s largest Muslim community.

There have been tensions in France in the wake of the October 7th attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel, followed by the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

Red hand graffiti was painted onto France’s Holocaust Memorial earlier this week, prompted anger including from President Emmanuel Macron who condemned “odious anti-Semitism”.

“Attempting to burn a synagogue is an attempt to intimidate all Jews. Once again, there is an attempt to impose a climate of terror on the Jews of our country. Combating anti-Semitism means defending the Republic,” Yonathan Arfi, the president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF). wrote on X.

France was hit from 2015 by a spate of Islamist attacks that also hit Jewish targets. There have been isolated attacks in recent months and France’s security alert remains at its highest level.