One dead as masked gunmen open fire at wedding reception in France

Shooting reportedly related to conflict between drug traffickers in Moselle region

Police officers at the site of the shooting in Thionville, France (AFP via Getty)

One person was killed and five others were wounded after masked gunmen opened fire at a Turkish wedding in northeast France over the weekend.

Three gunmen barged into the reception hall in Thionville on Saturday night and started shooting at the guests, who numbered around 100.

The shooting was linked to a conflict between drug traffickers in Moselle, French newspaper Le Figaro reported, citing sources in the local police.

The victim, reportedly a man in his 30s, was not named.

Three of the injured, aged between 25 and 50, were in critical condition at the nearby Bel-Air hospital. They included a pregnant woman.

The other two suffered minor injuries, mainly from shards of glass flying around, the local prosecutor's office said.

"At a quarter past one in the morning, a group of people went outside to smoke in front of the hall, and then three heavily armed men arrived and opened fire in their direction," a police source was quoted as saying by AFP.

The attackers used automatic weapons and shotguns to fire several rounds at the guests. "The wedding was not targeted as such, it was people who were at the wedding," the source said.

"All participants come from the urban area of Metz and none from Thionville,” Pierre Cuny, the mayor of Thionville, said in a post on Facebook.

Mr Cuny said he would make "no further comments in view of the electoral context" and offered "moral support to the victims and newlyweds".

In 2023, a shooting involving two rival gangs in the neighbouring town of Villerupt left five people injured.