mysterygunmanA mystery gunman has been shooting passersby on the Avenue de l’Opéra is Paris. This has been going on for days. Remarkably, almost no one has noticed or is talking about it.
The avenue de l’Opéra, depicted in Camille Pïsarro’s painting, runs from the Louvre to the Opéra. According to a press report, the shooter has been firing from a building at or near numbers 11 and 13, near the Pyramides metro station (the pyramids in question are in Egypt, the station and an adjacent street sharing a name that commemorates a Napoleonic campaign or battle).
The shooter apparently uses a shotgun, and has been injuring passersby for days: tourists, residents, even a famous singer. Victims, including tourists, have been hospitalized to remove shot. Thankfully, no one has died. Complaints have been made out with the police, which has investigated, recovering shot from the pavement and determining where the gunman was positioned.
I’m surprised, and disappointed, that gunshots in the heart of Paris aren’t considered newsworthy. I, along with hundreds of thousands of other people, have been on this street, going about my business, unaware. Had the shooter not hit a celebrity, perhaps the story would never have been reported. I don’t know what to make of the indifference.