France mosque shooting: Man arrested after mosque attack

French authorities have arrested a man suspected of shooting and seriously wounding two men in their 70s outside a mosque in southwest France, police have said.

French authorities have arrested a man suspected of shooting and seriously wounding two men in their 70s outside a mosque in southwest France, police have said.

An 84-year-old man opened fire when the two victims, aged 74 and 78, found him trying to set fire to a mosque in Bayonne, a police statement said on Monday.

The victims were brought to a nearby hospital with serious injuries, while the suspected shooter, identified as Claude Sinke, was later arrested near his home. Sinke also set fire to a car outside the Mosque.

“I strongly condemn the heinous attack perpetrated in front of the Bayonne Mosque,” President Emmanuel Macron said on his Twitter account. 

“Everything will be done to punish the perpetrators, and protect our Muslim compatriots,” he added.

The motive for the attack was not immediately clear.

The mosque was cordoned off for investigations.