Eight people have been wounded with two hospitalized in a shooting outside a mosque in the southern French city of Avignon on Sunday night.

Citing French daily La Provence , the BBC reports that two hooded gunmen opened fire on a crowd that included worshipers leaving the city's Arrahma mosque at 10:30 p.m. local time. Four people were injured outside the mosque and a family of four — including a seven-year-old girl — also reportedly suffered shrapnel wounds inside a nearby apartment.

Local officials said the shooting likely stemmed from a dispute between youths and was not being treated as a terrorist attack.

"The fact that it happened in the street of the religious establishment was unconnected with it," the prosecutor said.

On Thursday, a man was arrested in a Paris suburb after attempting to drive a car into worshipers outside a mosque there. On June 19, nine people were injured in a similar vehicular attack outside a mosque in North London .</s>AT least one person is dead and six others injured in a shooting in the French city of Toulouse.

Local media report the shooting took place around 9pm, local time, (5am AEST) in the Abbal Square in the Reynerie district of the city, which lies in the south of France.

According to reports assailants riding a scooter and a motorcycle opened fired on a crowd in the square before fleeing.

RELATED: Shooting in Paris sparks new terror fears

🔴 DIRECT #Toulouse



La fusillade a eu lieu quartier de la Reynerie. Les secours et policiers présents en masse. Situation en cours. pic.twitter.com/vfvSixY2ST — La Plume Libre Live (@LPLdirect) July 3, 2017

Police cordoned off the area and confirmed one death.

Police have dismissed terrorism as a motive behind the incident, indicating it was more likely drug related.

Reports said the dead victim was known to the police.

“No possibilities are ruled out, but there is at this stage no indication of any terrorist element” connected to the incident,” a local official said, AFP reported.

The favoured theory is that the shooting was some revenge killing, a source close to the enquiry said.

Local officials, meanwhile, said extra security had been deployed to the area.

Last year the La Reynerie district, in the southwest of Toulouse, was the scene of two shooting incidents, both believed to be a settling of scores.

In one incident last July a Russian man of Chechen origin was shot dead by an unknown gunman on a scooter.`

Yesterday two hooded gunmen opened fire on a crowd outside a mosque in Avignon, also in the south of France.

Witnesses say the men arrived at Arrahma mosque in a Renault Clio around 10.30pm local time (6.30am AEST), leapt out and began firing at random.

One was armed with a handgun and the other with a rifle, local newspaper La Provence reports.

France remains in a state of emergency after a series of devastating terror attacks across the country.</s>French media reports say eight people have been injured in a shooting near a mosque in the southern city of Avignon in what appears to be a criminal settling of scores. Local magistrate Laure Chabaud was quoted by La Provence and Le Dauphine Libere as saying that the mosque did not appear to be the target of the Sunday night shooting.

Start the conversation, or Read more at The Washington Post.</s>Eight people have been wounded with two hospitalized in a shooting outside a mosque in the southern French city of Avignon on Sunday night.

Citing French daily La Provence , the BBC reports that two hooded gunmen opened fire on a crowd that included worshipers leaving the city's Arrahma mosque at 10:30 p.m. local time. Four people were injured outside the mosque and a family of four — including a seven-year-old girl — also reportedly suffered shrapnel wounds inside a nearby apartment.

Local officials said the shooting likely stemmed from a dispute between youths and was not being treated as a terrorist attack.

"The fact that it happened in the street of the religious establishment was unconnected with it," the prosecutor said.

On Thursday, a man was arrested in a Paris suburb after attempting to drive a car into worshipers outside a mosque there. On June 19, nine people were injured in a similar vehicular attack outside a mosque in North London .</s>At least one person has been killed and six others wounded in a shooting in the French city of Toulouse, local media report.

The shooting took place in the Abbal square in Toulouse around 9:00pm local time when several assailants riding a motorcycle opened fire on a crowd before fleeing the scene.

At least one person was killed and six others injured, police sources told France 3. Two people are reported to be in a critical condition.

Police have cordoned off the area and have launched an investigation. The investigation is now being led by the Regional Service of Judicial Police (SRPJ) of Toulouse.

A witness filmed the moment of the attack, enabling authorities to confirm that the assailants arrived and left the scene on a bike, according to France 3 report.

Authorities believe the potential motive behind the drive-by shooting could be criminal and lacking terrorist intent, initial reports suggest. The deceased victim was known to police and was a suspect in another murder case last year, according to France Info.

The shooting in Toulouse comes just hours after French President Emmanuel Macron said he would lift the state of emergency in France by the end of the year.

“I will re-establish the freedoms of the French people by lifting the state of emergency this autumn because these freedoms are the precondition of the existence of a strong democracy,” Macron said, laying out his agenda at a joint session of parliament, according to AFP.

The state of emergency was introduced in France following the attacks in Paris in November 2015, which killed over 130 people. It has been extended five times since.

Police and administrative authorities are generally given more powers under an emergency regime, allowing for house arrests and searches without warrants along with other measures.

After assuming office, Macron requested that parliament extend the state of emergency until November 1. The current order was due to expire on July 15.

The 39-year-old French president promised that following the reinstatement of civil liberties, his government “will work to prevent any new attack, and we will work to fight (the threats) without pity, without regrets, without weakness.”</s>One person was shot dead and six others injured, two seriously, when a gunman opened fire in the southern French city of Toulouse late Monday, a local source said. Local press reported that a gunman on a scooter opened fire at around 9:00 pm in the La Reynerie district of Toulouse.

Start the conversation, or Read more at The Times of Israel.</s>Local press reported that a gunman on a scooter opened fire at around 9:00 pm in the La Reynerie district of Toulouse.

"No possibilities are ruled out, but there is at this stage no indication of any terrorist element" connected to the incident, the official added.

The favoured theory is that the shooting was a revenge killing, a source close to the enquiry said.

Local officials, meanwhile, said extra security had been deployed to the area.

Last year La Reynerie district, in the southwest of Toulouse, was the scene of two shooting incidents, both believed to be a settling of scores.

In one incident last July a Russian man of Chechen origin was shot dead by an unknown gunman on a scooter.</s>According to the broadcaster, the version of a terrorist attack was ruled out by the police as the incident likely has a criminal nature as the deceased victim was previously known to the authorities and was a suspect in a murder case.</s>One person was killed and another was injured in a shooting at a house party in Sugar Land early Sunday morning.</s>At least one person was injured in a shooting in east Charlotte.

According to MEDIC, the shooting occurred around 5 p.m. on Purser Drive and Glenville Avenue.

One person was taken to Carolinas Medical Center with a potentially life-threatening gunshot injury, MEDIC said.

No other information has been released.
At least one person is killed and six others are injured in a shooting in the French city of Toulouse.