Twelve wounded after attacker throws grenade into Grenoble bar

The attacker was also carrying an assault rifle - similar to a Kalashnikov - which he did not use, according to Touret de Coucy.

By MATHILDA HELLER FEBRUARY 13, 2025 10:28 Updated: FEBRUARY 13, 2025 10:35

Emergency services work near the scene of an explosion at a bar where a grenade was thrown, in Grenoble, on February 12, 2025. (photo credit: MAXIME GRUSS/AFP via Getty Images)

Twelve people were wounded, six critically, after a grenade was thrown into a bar in Grenoble, southeastern France on Wednesday night, French media reported.

French prosecutor Francois Touret de Coucy said the attacker "came in, threw a grenade, didn't say a word, it seems, and then fled," according to the report. 

The attacker was also carrying an assault rifle - similar to a Kalashnikov - which he did not use, according to Touret de Coucy.

The incident occurred in the city's Olympic Village district, built for the 1968 games.

Attaque à la GRENADE en pleine ville de Grenoble.Notre pays devient un pays sous développé, rempli de fous qui souvent ne devraient même pas être en liberté et/ou en France.Soutien aux blessés, on espère qu’il n’y a pas de morts pic.twitter.com/EgHQ44NidC

— Alice Cordier (@CordierAlice2) February 12, 2025

Chloé Pantel, deputy mayor of sector 6 of Grenoble, told AFP that the bar is "a gathering place for people from the neighborhood and from elsewhere, and is especially popular for watching football matches."

Le Parisien reported that, according to a police source, the grenade's spoon was found at the scene of the explosion. Some 80 firefighters were present on the scene.

Terrorism ruled out

According to Touret de Coucy, terrorism has been ruled out, but otherwise, there are no leads as to the motive yet. "Everything must be studied; we cannot say at this stage if it is linked to drug trafficking," he explained. 

"We can rule out a purely terrorist attack since there is nothing that leads us to believe that it is linked to terrorism," said the prosecutor.

The attacker is on the run and is yet to be identified. No arrests have been made, according to the reports.