'British family' gunned down in the Alps: 4 die, police guard girl of 8

**StrontiumDog** · 06-09-2012, 09:43 AM

'British family' gunned down in the Alps: Police guard girl of eight fighting for life after four die in holiday resort massacre

Three of the corpses were in a car parked in a forest lay-by in hills next to Lake Annecy
Badly wounded young girl, was also found in the 4x4, but later died of her injuries
Male cyclist found dead nearby with gunshot wounds
Armed police were tonight seen surrounding the Grenoble hospital where the single young survivor of the attack was in an intensive care unit

By Sam Greenhill and Nick Fagge

PUBLISHED: 16:55 GMT, 5 September 2012 | UPDATED: 22:35 GMT, 5 September 2012

A girl of eight was fighting for her life last night after the massacre of a family, believed to be British, at a French alpine beauty spot.

A couple thought to be her parents and another woman were gunned down in a British-registered BMW car. A passing cyclist was also shot dead.

The girl was found near the car. She had been shot three times.

Tragic: French Police officers cordon off the road leading to the scene where four people died in a shooting at a parking in Chevaline near the Annecy Lake

Grim: Three of the corpses - two women and a man - were in a car parked in a forest lay-by in hills next to Lake Annecy, in France's Haute-Savoie region

Confusion: Earlier reports had suggested the young girl had died in the attack, but later the prosecutor who had announced her death issued a correction and she is fighting for life at Grenoble's CHU hospital

The male driver was found slumped over the wheel of the car, while the two women were in the back seat.

The body of the male cyclist was found a few yards from the car, which was in a remote woodland car park near the town of Chevaline, close to the mountain resort town of Albertville.

One theory was that the cyclist saw the shooting and was killed to silence him.

Dozens of bullet cartridges littered the scene.

Killed: The identity of the cyclist was not revealed but police believe he may have tried to intervene during a suspected armed robbery attempt on the family in the roadside rest area

Press: Annecy prosecutor Eric Maillaud answers to journalists on the road leading to the scene - he confirmed the young girl was not dead and was in intensive care

Closed off: A firemen and rescue vehicle is driven on the road leading to the grisly scene

The bloodbath was discovered by a second cyclist – thought to be British – who stumbled on the horror scene at 4pm (3pm UK time).

The area is close to the Swiss and Italian borders. Nestled in hills next to Lake Annecy, in France’s Haute-Savoie region, it is a magnet for British holidaymakers.

The girl was found a short distance from the car, bleeding from ‘at least three’ gunshot wounds, according to a source.

She was airlifted in an air ambulance to Grenoble’s CHU hospital where she underwent surgery. At one point, police incorrectly announced she had died.

Armed police formed a ring of steel at the hospital to ensure no further harm came to the girl.

Last night the cyclist who called police from his mobile phone was treated for severe shock and questioned by detectives.

Eric Maillaud, the investigating prosecutor from Annecy, said: ‘It is a dramatic crime scene like we see on the TV. We are employing all necessary means to investigate. Two men and two women are the victims. The car is a British-registered BMW estate.

‘One of the male victims was a cyclist. He was found near his bike in his cycling gear. The other man was in the driving seat of the car. The two women were in the back of the car. There is a large number of gun cartridges at the crime scene.’

Tourist destination: The attack took place close to Doussard, which is full of holiday lets and hugely popular with British people during the summer months

Didier Berthollet, mayor of Chevaline, said that ‘the victims were not from the village’, adding that locals had told police they had seen a car speeding past between 3pm and 4pm. At least 60 policemen sealed off the area and a helicopter was circling overhead. There were no reports that anyone had been arrested.

Police also questioned villagers about reports a motorbike was heard speeding away from the scene.

The motive for the carnage remained a mystery last night.

The ferocity of the attack – and the apparent attempt to leave no witnesses – suggested it may have been the work of a professional assassin. Another theory is that it was a heist, but armed robberies of holidaymakers are not considered a problem in the area.

The attack took place close to Doussard, which is hugely popular with British holidaymakers during the summer months.

Police have not yet confirmed the nationalities of the deceased, but they are thought to be from the UK because of the BMW’s registration plates.

No weapons were found at the scene, but gendarmes said that all the victims had been shot. The cartridges at the scene indicate that the gunshots came from outside the vehicle.

The crime scene was ‘frozen’ while gendarmes waited for a specialist forensic team.

An Albertville police spokesman said: ‘We are looking at the possibility that the three dead people in the car and the young girl were all from the same family.

‘From the registration of the car, we believe this family may have been British. The entire area has been sealed off while a full multiple murder investigation is under way.’

Up to 500,000 Britons pass through the Annecy area each year, either on their way to winter ski holidays, or to enjoy summers around the lakes and mountains.

The Foreign Office said it was aware of the reports and making urgent inquiries, but was not in a position to confirm any nationalities.

Read more: Alpine shooting: 'British family' gunned down in the Alps: Police guard girl of eight fighting for life after four die in holiday resort massacre | Mail Online

**StrontiumDog** · 06-09-2012, 09:46 AM

Alps Shooting: Girl Found Alive Under Bodies

Alps Shooting: Girl Found Alive Under Bodies

3:33am UK, Thursday 06 September 2012

A four-year-old girl has been found alive hidden in a car under the bodies of the victims of a shooting in the French Alps.

Public prosecutor Eric Maillaud told AFP: "She was hidden under the bodies for some eight hours and didn't move for the whole time."

**Necron99** · 06-09-2012, 10:02 AM

It took 8 hours for them to search the car or move the bodies?

**VocalNeal** · 06-09-2012, 10:29 AM

^ Apparently

**Seekingasylum** · 06-09-2012, 10:32 AM

In some respects the absence of initiative, intelligence and judgement is not just limted to the British authorities but seems to be a phenomena prevalent elsewhere.

The crime scene was " frozen ", their words and presumably ordered on procedural grounds pending forensic examination, but for 8 hours to elapse before the vehicle was searched properly?

Beggars belief really.

**Daft Old Cat** · 06-09-2012, 10:33 AM

Perhaps a professional hit?

**Seekingasylum** · 06-09-2012, 10:46 AM

Given the alleged number of cartridge cases apparently littering the site and the fact the surviving child was wounded three times it seems likely automatic weapons were used. The suggestion it could have been an armed attack by robbers is therefore implausible since one might surmise such weaponry would not in the scheme of things either be available to them or indeed necessary for routine banditry. Therefore, assassination seems likely.

I imagine the identity of the driver will be the major clue in identifying his attackers.

**alitongkat** · 06-09-2012, 10:59 AM

two women in the back, and a male driver...

who sat next to the drivers seat in the car?
it was empty?

**bobo746** · 06-09-2012, 11:01 AM

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

The identity of the cyclist was not revealed but police believe he may have tried to intervene during a suspected armed robbery attempt on the family in the roadside rest area

I don't think this is an armed rob gone wrong,looks like an assassination.

**Dillinger** · 06-09-2012, 12:45 PM

Gotta be a hit

Makes a pleasant change not to see all the blood, guts, brains, intestines and Somchai and pals smirking in the wings

**Cujo** · 06-09-2012, 12:45 PM

France shooting: organised gangs prey on drivers travelling abroad - Telegraph

France shooting: organised gangs prey on drivers travelling abroad
Organised gangs targeting off-guard holidaymakers have become an increasing problem on the continent in recent years.

By Henry Samuel, Paris9:40PM BST 05 Sep 2012
Car-jackings and "distraction" robberies have become such a problem that earlier this year the Foreign Office warned British drivers travelling abroad that they had become "easy targets" for the gangs.
Thieves typically trick their victims by faking accidents, throwing stones at their windscreens to shock them into stopping, or pretending to need help.
Once the target vehicle has pulled over, the robbers either stage a hold-up or distract the occupants to get them out of the car while an accomplice steals valuables or even the car itself.
Hundreds of British tourists have been victims of such thefts, particularly in Spain but also in France.
British registration plates are an easy giveaway that the occupants are on holiday and likely to have cash and valuables with them in the car. Hire cars are also a regular target.

France has had other, equally sinister crime waves in recent years.
In 2007, the Foreign Office advised caravanners to install alarms after a string of tourists in France were gassed and robbed as they slept.
Britons were also warned to stay only on official campsites after several who had parked overnight at roadside lay-bys had valuables stolen, again after gas was used to incapacitate them.
In one incident, an elderly couple who had parked in a lay-by near La Croix Valmer, in southern France, woke to find £1,200 in cash stolen as well as their passports, bank cards, mobile phones and satellite navigation system.
France has one of the highest levels of civilian gun ownership in Europe, with far more relaxed gun laws than the UK.
Handguns, semi-automatic weapons and pump-action shotguns are legal if held by active gun club members who must have a licence for them and undergo a medical check.
Bolt-action rifles and semi-automatic guns limited to three-rounds can be acquired with either a sports shooting licence or a hunting licence and must be declared to the local police.
Fully-automatic firearms are banned, although gangs in Marseilles conducted a spate of shootings using weapons including Kalashnikovs at the end of last year.

**taxexile** · 06-09-2012, 12:46 PM

It took 8 hours for them to search the car or move the bodies?

procedures must be followed, orders must be obeyed and most important of all, boxes must be ticked.

there is no place for initiative, common sense or natural instinct in the highly regulated machinations of public services in the western world these days, and in the provincial backwaters of rural france, clousseauesque procedures are probably the order of the day.

**Necron99** · 06-09-2012, 12:51 PM

Originally Posted by taxexile

It took 8 hours for them to search the car or move the bodies?

procedures must be followed, orders must be obeyed and most important of all, boxes must be ticked.

there is no place for initiative, common sense or natural instinct in the highly regulated machinations of public services in the western world these days.

I can just imagine the howls of indignation and criticism the BiB would be copping on the expat boards if they left a 4 year old laying under the bullet ridden corpses of her parents for 8 hours before bothering to have a look....
Poor kid, lifetime of therapy there...

**klong toey** · 06-09-2012, 01:55 PM

Originally Posted by taxexile

It took 8 hours for them to search the car or move the bodies?

procedures must be followed, orders must be obeyed and most important of all, boxes must be ticked.

there is no place for initiative, common sense or natural instinct in the highly regulated machinations of public services in the western world these days, and in the provincial backwaters of rural france, clousseauesque procedures are probably the order of the day.

That's the EU for you lots of rules no common sense someone most have checked the bodies in the car for a pulse surely.

**BobR** · 25-06-2013, 09:25 AM

Originally Posted by taxexile

It took 8 hours for them to search the car or move the bodies?

procedures must be followed, orders must be obeyed and most important of all, boxes must be ticked.

there is no place for initiative, common sense or natural instinct in the highly regulated machinations of public services in the western world these days, and in the provincial backwaters of rural france, clousseauesque procedures are probably the order of the day.

Not to be contrary, but from my cop days, the crime scene was fully investigated, photographed and cataloged before the bodies were removed. Obvious exception for the injured. Foot prints and tire tracks are good examples of evidence that could be lost by removing the bodies too quickly.

There is no reason to trample a crime scene just to remove bodies, the paramedics would put a disposable blanket over them.

At least this shows the French, unlike Thailand actually do preserve a crime scene and do not let anyone in who wants a picture taken with the corpse.

**Troy** · 06-09-2012, 01:40 PM

I got the impression, from the reports, that there were two girls. One who was shot three times and found outside the car and another, uninjured, found hiding between the two women on the back seat. It was difficult to ascertain from the report the 8 hour timeline. I thought it was 8 hours hidden from the time of the shooting rather than from the time the bodies were found. Her lack of injury means that automatic weapons may not have been involved although it appears to be a little heavy handed for plain old robbery.

**Dillinger** · 06-09-2012, 01:58 PM

Shite reporting from the Daily Mail
This from the BBC

Two young girls were found alive, one eight hours after the deaths. The other is in a critical condition in hospital.
Prosecutor Eric Maillaud told AFP news agency the two women victims were yet to be definitively identified. He said a four-year-old girl was discovered hidden under the bodies around midnight (22:00 GMT). She is thought to have kept still for up to eight hours.

BBC News - France shooting: Annecy gun victims 'were UK tourists'

**alitongkat** · 06-09-2012, 02:29 PM

it were the parents and the grandmother of the 4-year-old ...

some witnesses have heard a motorbike leaving the area around the time of the murder...

"Some 15 spent cartridges from an automatic pistol were found at the crime scene" (bbc)

**alitongkat** · 06-09-2012, 06:31 PM

"I didn't know who the good guys or bad guys were" (British girl, 4)

Father named by police as Saad al Hilli from the London area

The BMW attack involved a semi-automatic machine pistol and was clearly fired by an experienced gunman.

(dailymail)

**good2bhappy** · 06-09-2012, 06:53 PM

who was he?
execution?

**alitongkat** · 06-09-2012, 06:56 PM

apart from the british people in the car, a cyclist was shot to death, too... a father of three, from a nearby village...

maybe, the attack was aimed at him, and the british car drove into the murder scene...

just for the record, could be the case too...(?)

**superman** · 06-09-2012, 06:56 PM

Originally Posted by alitongkat

Father named by police as Saad al Hilli from the London area

According to Yahoo news, he's an Iraqi.

**Panty Hamster** · 06-09-2012, 06:59 PM

Barbarians.

**good2bhappy** · 06-09-2012, 07:31 PM

seems that 3 of the victims were shot in the head
sounding like a hit
cyclist must have been a witness

**Butterfly** · 06-09-2012, 07:36 PM

at least the girls survived, horrible story

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