Clouds billow over the French Alps on Friday, July 13, 2012. (Photo: AP)
A prosecutor says a hunter shot and killed a 34-year-old bicyclist in the French Alps in what appears to be an accident.
Thonon-Les-Bains prosecutor Philippe Toccanier said the 22-year-old hunter was hospitalized for shock after the Saturday evening shooting and couldn’t be taken into custody while he is investigated on suspicion of aggravated manslaughter.
Toccanier told The Associated Press on Sunday the victim, a man from Wales who lived in France, was cycling down a mountain at around 6 pm when he passed near a group of about 10 game hunters.
Toccanier says the cyclist certainly “couldn’t be confused with game, as he had a colored helmet and a colored mountain bike.”
Britain’s Foreign Office says it’s “in contact with the local authorities” and providing assistance to the dead man’s family.
