Eight wounded in Martinique shooting

At least eight people were injured, three seriously, in a shooting at a concert attended by hundreds on France’s Caribbean island of Martinique, police said Friday.

According to initial reports, roughly 20 armed men descended on the venue in Riviere-Salee in the island’s south and opened fire on a man, wounding several bystanders.

“Hooded men arrived on motorbikes and forced their way into the hall and they started shooting. We didn’t understand what was going on,” Daniel Mirsa, the manager of the hall, told RCI radio.

At least eight people were wounded, six of them by gunshots, and three were in a critical condition, according to security forces.

“According to the first elements of the investigation, it was not a mass killing but rather a settling of scores,” said Colonel William Vaquette, head of the Martinique gendarmerie force.

Shortly before the two incidents, gunfire was reported at another evening gathering of 1,300 people in the Riviere-Salee area, according to the police.

They said the first incident likely involved the same group.