According to local authorities, a grenade was thrown into a busy bar in the French city of Grenoble, injuring twelve people.
Two people were critically injured in the incident, which occurred at the Aksehir bar on Wednesday night just after 20:00 local time (19:00 GMT).
Although investigators have not determined the attack’s motivation, they say it “may be linked to a settling of scores”.
According to eyewitness reports, the unidentified suspect may have also been carrying a Kalashnikov assault rifle, according to prosecutor Francois Touret-de-Courcey.
“There’s nothing to make us think it’s linked to terrorism,” he told reporters on the scene, characterizing the incident as an “act of extreme violence”.
Investigators were investigating potential links to drug trafficking, he added.
The suspect briefly entered the venue, which is in the city’s Olympic Village neighborhood, where a large crowd was present, according to authorities.
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According to the French newspaper Le Figaro, about 80 police officers and firefighters were sent to the scene on Thursday morning, and the area was still cordoned off.
The location is “a spot where locals and people from outside the neighborhood gather, especially to watch football matches,” according to Deputy Mayor Chloe Pantel, who spoke to the AFP news agency.
She also stated that there will be police in the area for some time to come.
After denouncing what he called a “criminal act of extraordinary violence,” Mayor Eric Piolle thanked the security and rescue personnel “for their rapid intervention” in a post on X.
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