French shooting show injures 16

[Pat McCotter]

French shooting show injures 16 
 
A military shooting demonstration in south east France has left 16 people wounded, after real bullets were used instead of blanks.

Four of the wounded are in a critical condition, including a young child.

A Defence Ministry official said the incident occurred during a demonstration of hostage-freeing techniques at a barracks in Aude.

The soldier who fired the shots has been detained. It is not clear why the wrong ammunition was used.

Reports from the scene say the hostage scenario had been acted out five times before a crowd at the Laperrine military barracks, near Carcassonne, when on the sixth take real bullets began flying through the air, and onlookers fell to the ground.

In a statement, French President Nicolas Sarkozy expressed his horror at the incident and said he was urgently waiting for the results of an official investigation.

A regional official, Bernard Lemaire, told France 3 radio that it is thought the incident was accidental but that foul play has not been ruled out.

"The question being asked is 'Did the soldier engage in a criminal act or not?'," Mr Lemaire said.

"For now, no-one can answer that, but the theory being worked on is one of error," he added.

The critically injured victims were taken to hospital in Toulouse.

[41mag]

It bothers me to read stories here that could go the opposite way.  I've seen a few stories where the police or security do hostage drills and don't tell anyone.  What happens when they do that someday and there is someone around that is carrying a handgun?

[K. Darien Freeheart]

Maybe if they were allowed to own and use firearms in France, they'd shoot less people by negligence.