A 27-year-old bride was shot and killed by masked gunmen during her wedding celebration in the southeastern French village of Goult on June 22, 2025, leaving three others wounded including her new husband and a 13-year-old child.
The attack occurred around 4:30 a.m. local time as the newlyweds were leaving their wedding reception at the village hall. Four masked men opened fire on the couple and their guests in the parking lot outside the venue, according to Marseille prosecutor Nicolas Bessone.
The bride was fatally wounded after being hit multiple times. Her 25-year-old husband sustained several wounds to his upper body, while the 13-year-old child suffered a lung injury and was initially in critical condition. The groom’s sister was also struck in the shoulder during the assault.
One of the four attackers was killed during the incident. The gunman was “shot in the back and head” and also “hit by a vehicle during the attack,” Bessone noted. The three remaining assailants fled the scene on foot.
Within hours of the shooting, authorities launched a massive manhunt involving dozens of police officers and a helicopter. Two suspects were detained in a nearby town several hours after the attack, while the fourth gunman remains at large. After 96 hours in police custody, the two arrested suspects appeared before a magistrate on June 27 and were charged with murder and attempted murder as part of an organized gang.
The shooting may be connected to a second incident that occurred the same day in the nearby city of Avignon, where a man was shot dead and another injured near a shopping center. Investigators believe the suspects were linked to both attacks.
Sources close to the investigation indicated the violence might be related to drug-related score settling. The 25-year-old groom was known to police for drug and organized crime offenses, with reports suggesting he had 26 entries in France’s judicial database related to such activities.
According to police, 28 people were present in the village hall at the time of the attack. The couple had reserved the wedding venue in March, though they did not live in the commune, according to Goult Mayor Didier Perello.
The mayor expressed his outrage over the incident, stating he was angry and would not rule out any possible explanations for the attack. Perello indicated the village was close to towns where similar incidents had occurred previously, though he declined to name specific locations.
Local residents expressed concern about the impact on their community’s reputation. Guillaume Molinas, a 50-year-old restaurant owner, told reporters he feared the tragedy would give the village a bad name, noting that the last major incident in Goult occurred 125 years earlier.
The attackers arrived by car and were armed with several different types of weapons, according to prosecutor statements. The assault appeared to be planned and targeted, with officials describing it as a coordinated attack by an organized criminal group.
Goult, located in the Vaucluse department about 50 miles north of Marseille, has a population of just over 1,000 people as of 2022. The village is situated in France’s Luberon region, known for its picturesque hilltop location overlooking lavender fields.
The incident highlights ongoing concerns about drug-related violence in the region, particularly around Marseille, which has experienced multiple drug-related killings in recent years. The French government has recently pledged to intensify efforts against narcotics and drug-related crime.
The Avignon prosecutor’s office opened an investigation for murder and attempted murder by an organized gang. While the exact motive has not been officially confirmed, authorities continue to pursue leads related to potential criminal score settling.
The bride and groom were reportedly members of France’s Moroccan community, though their identities have not been publicly released. The bride was unknown to police prior to the incident, according to French media reports.
Both the groom and the 13-year-old child received serious injuries, but their lives are not believed to be in immediate danger. The child’s exact relationship to the couple was not officially confirmed.