French singer hospitalised with bullet wound

PARIS (AFP): A former winner of France’s version of The Voice was in hospital on Monday after being shot in the chest, sources familiar with the case told AFP.

Singer Kendji Girac was found wounded after police were called to a traveler site in Biscarrosse on France’s southwestern coast around 5:30 am (0330 GMT).

Girac was admitted to hospital in Bordeaux but the injuries were not life-threatening, the sources, who asked not to be named, told AFP.

The 27-year-old told first responders that he had accidentally shot himself while tinkering with a Colt 45 automatic pistol he had bought at a junk shop, one source said.

Another source close to the investigation said police were not ruling anything out in their probe and had not yet questioned Girac.

Police locked down the scene of the shooting throughout Monday morning but left in the early afternoon, an AFP journalist saw.

“This isn’t a gangland shooting. It’s an accident. He was playing with the thing and ‘bam’,” a man called Emilio, who said he was Girac’s uncle, told AFP at the camp.

“We were quietly playing the guitar… An accident can happen at any time,” said Emilio, who declined to give his surname.

Members of Girac’s family went to Bordeaux’s Haut-Leveque hospital but declined to speak to the media.

A source close to the investigation and emergency services said the singer had never been in danger of dying from his wound, as had initially been reported, and that he was conscious when first responders arrived.

One source said an investigation into the shooting had been launched, although the local prosecutors did not immediately confirm that.

Girac is the stage name of Kendji Maille, who won The Voice in 2014 after going viral with a song his uncle published on YouTube.

He has since sold millions of albums, with hits including “Color Gitano” and “Andalouse” (Andalucia) referencing his Catalan Roma heritage.