Isère: Mayor of Villeneuve-de-Marc in emergency after being attacked in his town

Gilles Dussault, 63, was struck with a blunt object while walking down the street with his 28-year-old son.

By Le Parisien with AFP

The police are still looking for him. Questioned by AFP, the Isère prefecture simply confirmed "the attack on the mayor" (illustration). LE PARISIEN/Thomas Diquattro

Gilles Dussault was urgently hospitalized. The mayor of Villeneuve-de-Marc, a village in the Isère region of France with fewer than 1,200 inhabitants, was attacked in his town on Wednesday.

The 63-year-old councillor was hit with a blunt object by an unidentified person shortly before 5 p.m. while he was walking along a local street with his 28-year-old son, firefighters told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The mayor was taken to the Édouard-Herriot hospital in Lyon while his son was taken to the hospital in Vienna in relative emergency, according to the same source.

The alleged perpetrator of the attack fled in a vehicle he abandoned after hitting a wall, and escaped on foot, firefighters added. The police are still searching for him. When contacted by AFP, the Isère prefecture simply confirmed "the attack on the mayor."

— François Rebsamen (@frebsamen) August 6, 2025

On X, the Minister of Regional Planning, the socialist François Rebsamen, said he was "deeply shocked and moved by the violent attack on the mayor of Villeneuve-de-Marc and his son." "An elected official of the Republic and his family attacked: this is intolerable. The attacker must be found and punished with the utmost firmness," he added.