Gunman on the run after shooting priest in Lyon, France

 news/ (Euronews) A gunman who shot a Greek Orthodox priest outside his church in the French city of Lyon remains on the run. 

The priest, who was shot on Saturday, is in a serious condition, police sources told AFP news agency.

It comes three days after an Islamic extremist killed three people in a church in Nice.

But there is no indication at this stage that the incident in Lyon is of the same type as that in the southern French city.

"Serious events just occurred in Lyon. I do not yet have precise elements about the circumstances about this act. The interior minister will activate the crisis center. And I will immediately go to Paris to learn more about the situation," French Prime Minister Jean Castex said at a press conference.

Paty, 47, a history and geography teacher, was beheaded on Friday near the school he taught at in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, some 25 kilometres northwest of Paris.

This incident comes after A French teacher had shown caricatures of Prophet Muhammad in class during a lesson on freedom of speech which had angered some Muslim students.

After the teacher’s crime, three persons were killed and others wounded in a knife attack near a church in the French city of Nice.