Mass Attack With BBQ Tool in Lyon, France Leaves One Dead, Multiple Wounded

Two men armed with a kitchen knife and a barbeque tool attacked a bus stop in the French town of Villeurbanne, leaving one dead and at least six wounded. 

The attack took place at roughly 4:25 p.m local time at the Laurent Bonnevay bus stop. Police Nationale in France confirmed the incident in a statement on Twitter. 

According to Le Progrès, a newspaper based in the nearby city of Lyon, the victim was a 19-year-old girl from the Isère region, who had been taking the bus to the Woodstower music festival in Miribel. 

Witnesses told Le Progrès that an unidentified suspect approached the stop and began to stab multiple people waiting there. His weapon has been variously described as a “large fork” and as “metal spike for roasting meat.” 

When authorities arrived at the scene, the attacker fled the area. He was quickly apprehended without use of force. A second suspect fled toward a nearby park and has not yet been arrested. 

“I am extremely shocked by the attack which just took place in the Lyon area,” said Lyon Mayor Gerard Collomb in a statement in French on Twitter, “during which one person died and several others were injured, some of them gravely.”

Collomb, who is currently at the scene, told Le Progrès that the motives behind the attack were still unknown. But he confirmed that it was “not a fight.” The attackers lashed out at passersby randomly, Collomb said.