Les Pennes-Mirabeau (France) (AFP) – A firefighter was very seriously injured by gunfire on Sunday during an intervention on a vehicle fire near Marseille, and his assailant was quickly arrested.
Published on: 01/11/2026 - 9:39 p.m. Modified on: 02/11/2026 - 09:34
The accused was placed in police custody on charges of "attempted homicide of a person responsible for a public service mission, destruction and damage by dangerous means and possession of category B weapons", the Aix-en-Provence prosecutor, Jean-Luc Blachon, told AFP.
Regarding the victim, “she is very seriously injured and was hospitalized to receive emergency treatment,” added the magistrate.
The events took place at the end of the afternoon, emergency services had been called at the end of the afternoon to put out a fire in heavy goods vehicles and light vehicles in the commercial area of Plan de Campagne in Pennes-Mirabeau, when they were "attacked by firearms", explained to AFP the prefect of Bouches-du-Rhône, Jacques Witkowski.
A firefighter with the rank of professional chief warrant officer from the departmental fire and rescue service (SDIS) who commanded the device was “very seriously injured” and transported to the emergency room at the North hospital, the firefighters said.
Another firefighter was targeted and a vehicle was hit in the attack, the prefect said.
The man who attacked them with a shotgun-type weapon had “probably set fire” to the vehicles himself, added Jacques Witkowski.
He then “took refuge in illegal accommodation”, a caravan located nearby, said the LR mayor of Pennes-Mirabeau, Romain Amaro, who also went there.
“There were a lot of police forces in the commercial area, since in the case of the demonstrations, the prefect had organized a massive presence of gendarmerie and national police” who were able to intervene “ultra quickly”, he continued.
The attacker was therefore able to be arrested. He “is currently handed over to the judicial police authorities,” declared the prefect.
"republican pact"
According to a source close to the investigation, the man arrested has a "psychological" profile and was already known to the courts for acts of violence, particularly with weapons. He was summoned on December 3 to answer.
In a message on
The spokesperson for the French fire brigade, Éric Brocardi, also gave his support to his “colleague, his loved ones and the mobilized teams”. “When those who provide assistance become targets, it is our republican pact that is compromised,” he reacted on X. “Rescuing must never endanger.”
Nearly 1,500 attacks on firefighters, both verbal and physical, have been reported each year since 2021, according to the Ministry of the Interior. Three-quarters of it comes from the people they are trying to help.
This violence is severely punished: a woman who attacked a firefighter in Paris in May 2022 while he was trying to put out a pallet fire during the May 1 demonstrations was then sentenced to ten months in prison.
© 2026 AFP
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