An American tourist who visited the Café Chineur in Paris recently said: “We wandered into this cute little cafe when we got caught in a rainstorm our first afternoon (ever) in Paris. We got a large cheese plate, wine and beer and did lots if people watching. Service was wonderful. We stopped in a few days later to get another cheese plate and also shrimp. Again, everything was wonderful. The ambiance was great–we felt like we were in a movie!”
Today this movie scene became reality when in the same little Paris cafe a man and a women were shot dead on Sunday evening by a gunman who then fled. The shooting took place as the victims were sitting at the outside terrace of the Café Chineur, a bar located in the French capital’s southern 14th arrondissement.
Police said the two were shot at point-blank range with one bullet each, labelling the crime as “mysterious”.
The victims tried to take refuge inside but the man died at the scene and the woman died as she was being taken to hospital, said police investigator Jean-Jacques Herlem.
Herlem called the shooting “mysterious” and said police did not yet know the motive.
“All hypotheses are obviously open. The investigation has just started,” said a source close to the probe. The identities of the victims were not immediately given.
Tourists should be aware that there is a security issues in Paris
A leading candidate for Paris mayor who lives nearby, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, went to the scene after learning of the shooting from friends.
“My children go to two schools in the neighbourhood. I’m shocked,” said Kosciusko-Morizet, who is running on the ticket of the UMP party in polls set for March.
“It’s impossible not to make the connection with the growing concerns over security issues, even if we don’t know anything at this stage,” she told AFP.
France occasionally sees deadly score-settling by armed criminals in bars, most often in southern cities such as Marseille, but sometimes also in Paris, though in places well away from the heavily policed centre favoured by tourists.
Deadly disputes sometimes also erupt between couples, though not often involving firearms.
