Man shot by hunter in France was not British as reported

The victim of a hunting accident in the region of Occitanie, who had been identified as British by several media outlets, is in fact French with an Irish father, a family friend has told The Connexion.

Morgan Keane, 25, was shot dead by a stray bullet fired by a hunter when he was chopping wood on his property, 100 metres from his house in Calvignac, Lot, on Wednesday, December 2.

Family friend Lillian Bell said that Mr Keane was her son Michael's best friend and that she had known him for a long time. 

“He was the most darling, gentle, loving, philosophical person you can believe. He cared about everybody else,” she said. 

She said that Mr Keane had grown up in the area and gone to school with her son and that the only words of English he spoke were the ones she and her friends and family had taught him.

Mr Keane is survived by a younger brother, Rowan, who is being taken care of by friends.

Their parents are both dead. 

The alleged shooter, a 33-year-old man from Aveyron, was placed under judicial supervision on Friday, December 4, and charged with manslaughter. He faces three to five years in prison. 

He was participating in a wild boar hunt. A public prosecutor said that the hunter had fired after he thought he had spotted a dark mass. A few moments before, hunters said they had seen several wild boars in the woods. 

Ms Bell told The Connexion that she is arranging the funeral for Mr Keane, but does not know when that will be as an autopsy is being carried out on the body.

She said her friend, Rose Dodd, is organising a solidarity march in nearby Cajarc on Saturday (December 5).

“It looks like there will be a lot of people,” Ms Bell said.

“We want to show the world that he was shot by hunters, but we are not directly protesting against the hunters. 

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