Hunt widens for gunman who targeted priest in Lyon
THE search for a gunman who critically wounded a Greek Orthodox priest in Lyon widened yesterday, after a suspect was questioned and set free.
Police found no evidence to link the arrested man to Saturday afternoon’s attack on Nikolas Kakavelakis, who was fired at twice with a hunting rifle as he closed the door to his church residence.
The priest (pictured), a 45-year-old dad-of-two, remained in a critical condition in hospital.
Police said the motive for the shooting was unclear. They have opened an attempted murder investigation but anti-terror prosecutors are not involved.
France is on high security alert after the killing of three people at a Nice church on Thursday. It comes amid high global tensions over president Emmanuel Macron’s defence of free expression.
There have been protests across the Muslim world about his refusal to ban cartoons of Mohammad, such as those published in the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. Tensions within the Greek Orthodox community in Lyon have also been reported. The priest, a Greek citizen, had a long-running legal dispute with a former monk who was convicted of defamation, French media claim. The Greek Orthodox Holy Diocese of France said Father Kakavelakis was scheduled to return to Greece after his stint in Lyon. ‘We pray for a speedy recovery and unequivocally condemn all forms of violence,’ it said. Antoine Callot, the pastor at another Greek Orthodox church in Lyon, said he immediately asked police for added security at his church after the shooting.