11-year-old British girl shot dead in France in dispute over garden

Paris [France], June 13 : An 11-year-old British girl was shot dead by her neighbour at Saint-Herbot in France's Brittany allegedly during a dispute over their gardens on Sunday, CNN reported citing the local mayor's office. Her parents were seriously injured in the attack.

The girl's eight-year-old sister escaped and was found "unharmed but in a state of shock", Quimper prosecutor Carine Halley said in a statement, CNN reported. The family was in the garden when their 71-year-old Dutch neighbour came with a firearm. He began firing several times in their direction before shutting himself in his residence with his wife.

Police intervened in the matter at 10 pm (local time), CNN reported. Halley said that the 11-year-old girl was found dead while her father suffered a life-threatening head injury and her mother was also injured in the incident. After an hour, the Dutch man and his wife surrendered and were taken into custody.

According to an administrative worker at the town hall of Plonevez-du-Faou Regine Guillot, the shooting was caused due to a disagreement over gardening noise and cutting down of trees bordering the properties, as per the news report.

The shooter was angry at his neighbour who cut down trees that provided shade to his property. As per the news report, the dispute between the two neighbours lasted for at least two years. The Quimper prosecutor's office has started a probe on charges of voluntary manslaughter of a minor and attempted murder.

Carine Halley on Sunday said that the motives behind the tragedy "are not known yet," as per the CNN report. However, as per the initial probe, "it appears there had been a dispute between the two neighbours for several years over a piece of land adjoining the two properties."

Plonevez-du-Faou Mayor Marguerite Bleuzen said that she had been aware of a dispute between two neighbours several years back, CNN reported citing BFMTV. Bleuzen said that she along with her deputies intervened in the matter and added that there was a problem with the land and noise complaints.

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