MONTFERRIER-SUR-LEZ, FRANCE — At least one woman was killed when an armed intruder attacked a retirement home in southern France late on Thursday.
The attacker was armed with a knife and a sawed-off shotgun, French newspaper Le Monde reported.
The residents of the retirement home near the city of Montpellier are mostly retired missionaries to Africa.
After entering the building, the suspect tied up a caretaker and stabbed a woman to death. Some reports said the dead woman was a nun, but conflicting accounts said she was a supervisor at the home.
The alarm was raised when the caretaker escaped and called the police.
By the time the police arrived, the suspect had fled, and a manhunt was launched to find him.
Early indications suggested the attack was not terror-related, Reuters reported, citing local officials.
France remains in an official state of emergency following a spate of recent terrorist attacks in the country.
