'It was a targeted operation': Wedding turns into bloodbath, shocked residents tell their story

Terror gripped the residents of Goult early Sunday morning. Daniel, a resident of this village of 1,000 souls, expressed his shock in Le Parisien : "We heard them set off fireworks at the roundabout and then we went back to sleep. And at 4:40 a.m., we were awakened by the sounds of gunfire, probably from military weapons. It was a wedding, and the bride is dead!" His words convey disbelief in the face of such violence in such a peaceful place.

Tanguy, also awakened by the gunfire and the ballet of the gendarmes' helicopter, shares his dismay: "This village hall, anyone can rent it, these weren't people from here, they just came to finish the wedding and the party." This statement underlines the feeling of imported violence, foreign to the village's identity.

The first elements of the investigation, opened by the Avignon prosecutor's office for murder and attempted murder by an organized gang, reveal a chilling scene. The bride and groom, aged 27 and 25, were preparing to leave the party in their car with a 13-year-old child. It was at this moment that they were targeted by four armed and hooded men who arrived in a Golf 8.

Avignon prosecutor Florence Galtier stated that the bride died at the scene. One of the attackers was also reportedly killed, possibly hit "in the exchange," suggesting return fire from the bride and groom's vehicle. Was the tragedy the scene of a drug trafficking ring settling scores?

In front of Goult's bar-tabac, a villager shares his fears: "We know there are big drug trafficking problems in Vaucluse, with people making a lot of money and killing each other over it." He then expresses the general disbelief at the proximity of the tragedy: "Yet here, we're a quiet village, far from all that normally. But in fact, no one is safe. They must have wanted to spend their money here and it came back to haunt us."

Didier Perello, the mayor of Goult, expressed his deep shock at the incident. Early Sunday afternoon, he stated: "A search is still underway because some of the people involved may still be in the municipality." He also confirmed that no prior checks were being carried out on rentals of the municipal function room.