British girl, 11, shot dead ‘while playing on swings’ by ‘neighbour in land row’

A little girl was left screaming after her sister, 11, was allegedly shot dead by a reclusive neighbour following a quarral over a garden hedge.

A little girl was left screaming after her sister, 11, was shot dead by a reclusive neighbour as she played on the swings during a family barbecue.

Solanine Thornton, 11, died after a retiree who lived at the end of the garden opened fire with a 22. calibre hunting rifle at her home in Brittany, north west France, on Saturday, The Sun reports.

It’s alleged teh neighbours had been in a quarrel over a piece of land.

The grandfather of Solaine said “she didn’t stand a chance”.

Her little sister Celeste, 8, was reportedly left screaming as she desperately ran for help as her parents Adrian, 52, and Rachel, 49, were also shot by the neighbour, a 71-year-old Dutchman.

The two girls were playing on a swing set with their parents sitting nearby on a bench.

Adrian is fighting for his life after reportedly being shot in the head, while Rachel was reportedly shot twice in the head and back.

Solaine was reportedly shot in the heart, while Celeste miraculously escaped unharmed as she ran for help in the hamlet Saint-Herbot, 55km north of the city of Quimper.

Solaine Thornton died after allegedly being shot by her neighbour. Picture: The Sun.

The girls’ grandfather Irvin Thornton said the police arrived at his house in Oldham, in Manchester in England’s north west, on Sunday night to break the news of Solaine’s death.

“How can a 71-year-old man shoot a little girl?,” he told The Sun.

“There might have been a dispute over land but you do not do that.

“She didn’t stand a chance. And in front of her sister. How is she going to get over that? It will live with her forever.”

Mr Thornton said his son was still in a coma.

The tiny rural village of just a handful of houses has been left in shock by the gun rampage.

Yannick Valory, who lives nearby, held back tears as he described the horrific scene as Celeste came running screaming for the family garden, reports Brittany news website Le Télégramme.

“We were watching TV around 9pm with my wife. We heard the sound of firecrackers. It surprised me, so I walked out.

“I saw the youngest of the girls opposite come running and rush to my neighbours, whom she knows better,” he said.

“She was screaming that her sister was dead and took refuge with them.”

“I crossed to access their garden. There was no shooter. But I saw the prone body of her big sister. I couldn‘t do anything for her, she was dead.”

A girl was left screaming after her sister, 11, was shot dead by a reclusive neighbour as she played on the swings during a family barbecue.

Neighbour dispute

The alleged gun man was arrested after at first barricading himself inside his house, which is understood to overlook the Thornton’s back garden at their home – a former sawmill.

It is alleged there had been a row between the neighbours for the last three years over a plot of land next to the two homes.

TV channel BFMTV reported the suspect – who has not yet been named – lived with his wife Marlene and was known for being a recluse.

The Dutchman’s wife was said to be a “pleasant neighbour” who ”said hello to people”, but her husband was gruff and withdrawn.

He was described as a man with “long, white hair” – who seemed determined to live in a “cacoon” in the little village.

“He was after Adrian and Rachel,” said another neighbour, adding the family were ”great people” and ”adorable”.

He went on: “This guy has lived there with his wife for several years and had no contact with anyone – except to complain about the noise.”

The TV channel reported he became enraged after the British family had trimmed back hedges and trees which had “isolated” his home from the rest of the neighbourhood.

French outlets reported the man became enraged after the family had trimmed back hedges and trees which had ‘isolated’ his home from the rest of the neighbourhood.

It was also reported he had previously threatened the family with the gun amid the row – resulting in a call to local police – but no action was taken.

“It‘s not normal. If we came to live in Saint-Herbot, it’s to be quiet. And now, from the road, we can be seen,” the alleged suspect’s wife Marlene is reported to have complained to another neighbour.

“We can‘t even go eat in the garden in the summer.”

Other reports said the gunman was “on drugs” when he pointed the rifle at the family and opened fire.

It is understood the UK family had lived in the village for around four years and were well-liked, with Mr Thornton often helping out his neighbours.

Another neighbour said: “That’s what the dispute three years ago was all about – police were called because he was threatening the family with his rifle”.

“The two families were always arguing, and the rifle escalated matters, but nobody ever believed that he would use it.”

The weapon was a licensed hunting rifle, and no effort was made to confiscate it by the police, or council officials.

They added: “He was also regularly upset about the noise the family made, even though it didn’t bother anyone else – it was mainly just kids having a nice time”.

The weapon was a licensed hunting rifle, and no effort was made to confiscate it by the police, or council officials.

Marguerite Bleuzen, the local mayor said there had been “some trouble with a neighbour dispute” since 2020.

An investigative source said “they had been arguing for many years” over a piece of land.

An investigative source said ‘they had been arguing for many years’ over a piece of land.

“They had been arguing for many years over a plot of land adjoining the two properties.

“Tensions clearly reached boiling point.”

Sébastien and Marie-Céline, who live in the same building as the suspected gunman, described him as a “very distant” man.

They told Le Télégramme: “Three years ago, he made a big deal to Adrien and Rachel about the clearing they had done – which prevented him from feeling at home.

“He had already threatened with a weapon, the gendarmes had intervened.

“From that day on we kept a low profile.”

Another neighbour named Françoise said the neighbour often complained about the family making too much noise.

He said: “But it was in the daytime and they didn’t make more noise than anyone else. No one else was bothered by it.”

One resident said the suspect and his wife “spoke to no one”.

They told TV channel TF1: “They were foreigners in Saint-Herbot, no one knew them, they spoke to no one”.

After the fatal attack, the suspect shut himself in his house with his wife – and specialist firearms officers from the elite GIGN (Gendarme National Intervention Group) raced to the scene. He eventually gave himself up.

Local prosecutor Carine Halley said initial evidence suggested the suspect “suddenly emerged armed with a gun and fired several times towards the victims”.

Halley said the 11-year-old girl was dead when police arrived.

Her father was taken to the La Cavale Blanche hospital in Brest in a critical condition.

Mayor Bleuzen said: “We knew the family well. There is a village fete every year and they always came.

“It is incomprehensible to have shot a child. No one can understand how that could have happened.”

She added the suspect appeared to be “dazed” when he was arrested.

“I am not even sure he realised the gravity of what he had done,” she said.

He faces a murder charge, and three attempted ones, a local police source said.

Ms Halley said: “An investigation has been opened into the murder of a minor and three attempted murders.”

This article originally appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission

Originally published as British girl, 11, shot dead ‘while playing on swings’ by ‘neighbour in land row’