PHOTO: Cash-in-transit van burning with fire after being attacked with kalachnikov by unknown gunmen at the intersection of Cours Berriat in Grenoble

Shortly after 10am on Thursday 10 October, a van caught fire in the city centre of Grenoble at the intersection of Cours Berriat and Cours Jean Jaurès. According to witnesses, gunshots were heard. The prefecture confirms an armed attack on an armoured van. READ MORE HERE

A scene of panic this Thursday, October 10 in the city center of Grenoble. Shortly after 10 a.m., gunshots were heard at the intersection of Cours Berriat and Jean Jaurès.  “About ten shots,” according to a passerby. This was an armed attack on an armored van, confirms the Isère prefecture.

According to initial reports, two vehicles blocked an armoured van belonging to the Loomis company that was leaving the Bank of France, and an exchange of gunfire took place. The robbers were armed with automatic weapons. The company’s agents fired retaliatory shots, injuring one of the accused. ” There was an exchange of fire on both sides ,” confirmed Grenoble public prosecutor Éric Vaillant, who went to the scene and praised the courage of the agents in the armoured van.

“The criminals attacked with a white van that they tried to set on fire as they left, and they were in two Mercedes ,” said Éric Vaillant. ” They abandoned the first car after crashing it. We will probably find the second one on fire, near Grenoble .”

A witness met by France Bleu Isère at the scene of the tragedy recounts: “A cash-in-transit van was hit by a white van, it was followed by two Mercedes cars. Men got out of the vehicles with heavy weapons. An exchange of gunfire ensued.” Although the van managed to continue on its way, it was chased by at least one Mercedes, according to the same witness who observed everything.

Two impacts are visible on the white van, which caught fire at the intersection of the two streets.  Firefighters quickly intervened to put out the flames. According to the Grenoble public prosecutor, “there are two minor injuries linked to road accidents caused by the event and by a shard of glass. There are no deaths . “

The Grenoble public prosecutor, Eric Vaillant, stated that the escorts managed to escape and take refuge in a gendarmerie barracks located in Seyssinet-Pariset, just next to Grenoble. ” They are shocked but they are not injured ,” stated Eric Vaillant, who contacted the judicial police (DCOS). The JIRS of Lyon (Specialized Interregional Jurisdiction) took charge of the case ” given the scale of this attack .”