Two armed robbers entered a McDonald’s in France on Sunday night and expected to leave with a load of money. Instead, they ended up at the hospital after 11 Special Forces members, who were eating at the restaurant, intervened.
The robbery occurred on Sunday night in Besancon, France, when the two armed robbers, both in their early 20s, entered the establishment and fired a shotgun in the air, The Telegraph reports. Unbeknownst to them, 11 of the 40 patrons in the restaurant were off-duty members of the French parliamentary Special Forces known as "among the most effective anti-terror forces in Europe," according to The Telegraph.
The Special Forces members did not engage the robbers immediately so that they wouldn't injure any of the patrons. They waited until the robbers grabbed the $2,270 they were stealing and made their way out of the store, The Washington Post reports. While escaping, one of the robbers tripped, which allowed the Special Forces members to restrain him. They ordered the second robber to drop his weapon. He did not comply and was shot in the stomach.
The Telegraph reports, “During the hold-up, the gendarmes didn’t do anything,” local prosecutor Edwige Roux-Morizot told the Telegraph. “It was out of the question to use their weapons, as this would have created difficulties and could have placed many people’s lives in danger.”
According to The Washington Post, the Special Forces unit was created following the hostage crisis at the 1972 Munich Olympics and specializes in these types of situations. Both robbers were taken into custody and to the hospital for treatment.
Read more at The Telegraph and The Washington Post.
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