More details have emerged in the terrifying French Alps shooting, where four people perished and one child was seriously injured.
The shooting rampage has sparked a joint French-British investigation to uncover a motive and suspects in the case that left four people dead on Thursday, reports the CBC .
Those killed were a British-Iraqi couple, an older woman thought to be a relative, and a mountain biker. The couple’s four-year-old daughter Zeena survived unhurt, while their seven-year-old daughter was shot in the should and beaten, and currently resides in a hospital in a medically induced coma.
Post mortem results have shown that each victim was shot several times, including twice in the head, according to Eric Maillaud, the French prosecutor on the case. Police have said that at least 25 automatic handgun rounds were fired at the car in the shooting.
French police have also spoken to the four-year-old girl, who hid under her mother’s legs during the shooting. The CBC’s Dominic Valitis reported that:
“Despite her young age she is said to have identified her family and described the fury and terror of what happened.”
Channel 4 News notes that the French have sent four officers to the UK to assist British police with their investigation, beginning with a search of the victims’ house in Claygate, Surrey. Police in Surrey set up a tent in front of the al Hillis home on Saturday as they, along with the French police team, prepared to begin searching the house.
Two French detectives, along with British officers, entered the house earlier, while families have been visiting the home throughout the day to leave tributes to the family, including flowers and teddy bears. Surrey Police head of operations stated:
“This is a French-led investigation. Surrey police will do all we can in the support of the effective investigation on behalf of our French colleagues. Throughout that support I want to place the emphasis on the victims of this tragic incident and Surrey police, again working with our French colleagues, will be ensuring all those who need support will get the support. Specifically, Surrey police have deployed specially trained family liaison officers both here in the UK and abroad in France.
Police still have no motive for the crime, but witnesses have come forward to say that a green SUV was present in the area during the time of the murders, and possibly a motorbike as well.
