The shooting left five minors injured, including one victim in a state of absolute emergency, on Thursday, October 31, in front of a restaurant in the Couronneries district of Poitiers, according to Poitiers prosecutor Cyril Lacombe.
The prosecution opened an investigation into attempted homicide, stating that the alleged shooter, according to the first elements of the investigation, “he would have dedicated himself to the sale of narcotics”in the area where the events occurred, “during the previous days”.
According to Poitiers prosecutor Cyril Lacombe, a suspect whose identity is being verified, “present in the city for several weeks”searched During a search on Friday morning of a home he allegedly occupied, seven cartridges of the same caliber as the 11 at the scene of the shooting were found, as well as “partial elements of a disassembled weapon”were seized by investigators.
According to the prosecutor, the Poitiers police services were called to the scene by an individual at 10:46 p.m., informing them that “several shots” It was heard in Coimbra Square, near a kebab restaurant. “All the available units in the district then converged on this place”again according to the prosecutor who spoke Friday afternoon during a press conference.
The police found a first injured person on the ground, shot in the head. He was 15 years old and was hospitalized in a state of absolute emergency, compromising his life prognosis. Two other teenagers were shot, one 16 years old in the shoulder and the other 15 years old in the ankle. They were treated by emergency services. “Two other victims who were more lightly affected later went to the hospital on their own”added the prosecutor, and “your days are not in danger”. All the victims are minors, “born in 2008 and 2009” and residing in Poitiers, said. Eleven plugs “which would have been fired by a type 22 long rifle semi-automatic weapon” They were found near the restaurant, according to the prosecutor’s office.
On the scene, “The police contacted about sixty people who wanted to be informed of the events and go to the scene of the crime to find out what had happened. »continued the Poitiers prosecutor. The police used “Three tear gas grenades to repel the heat of these badals” in order to “freeze” the scene and while the latter demonstrated “vehemence”according to him. Two witnesses present at the scene were attacked “as if it were probable that we knew the identity of the shooter”a third person “to be designated by the clamor as capable of knowing the latter”added the prosecutor.
“There was no damage to businesses or parked vehicles, including police vehicles.” in the Couronneries neighborhood, Lacombe told the press. He specified that “Calm was restored around 11:30 p.m.”
“An unprecedented episode” in the history of this city
Shortly before, the Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, had declared on BFM-TV/RMC that between “400 and 600 people” were involved, citing a report by the prefect of Vienne, Jean-Marie Girier, later specifying that not all of them had participated in the fight. According to the police and the prosecutor’s office, only “50 to 60 people”.
According to the prefect of Vienna, in the district in question, where about 10,000 inhabitants live, “Two or three points of the agreement that are important and mobilize the national police a lot on a daily basis”but it remains “relatively quiet” : “It is not in the hands of the merchants, although there may be tensions”said Jean-Marie Girier calling the families “Do not leave minors on the street at night”. The district is classified as a priority for municipal policy (QPV). Reinforcements of mobile forces will be deployed there on Friday afternoon.
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The environmentalist mayor of Poitiers, Léonore Moncond’huy, who visited Couronneries on Friday morning, spoke of “an unprecedented episode” in the history of this city, which “testifies to a rather serious evolution of society”. METROme Moncond’huy also stressed that the neighborhood suffered greatly from urban violence in the summer of 2023 after the death of the young Nahel in the Paris region. “We are next to the police station that has not yet reopened”mentioned to the press, calling for a reinforcement of security resources on the ground.
“Turning point”
“The “narcoracailles” no longer have limits (…). These shootings are not happening in South America, they are happening in Rennes, in Poitiers. (…). “We are at a turning point,” declared the Minister of the Interior on BFM-TV in the morning. “We must not discover the problem”added Bruno Retailleau, who considered that these shots were “linked to drug trafficking”. “It’s about settling scores”continuous.
The Minister of the Interior traveled in the afternoon to Rennes, where a five-year-old boy remains between life and death after being shot in the head on Saturday, as part of a reckoning linked to drug trafficking. In an exchange with a neighbor, during which he promised reinforcements and the arrival of the National Investigation Unit, created by Gérald Darmanin, Bruno Retailleau used a martial vocabulary like last week in Toulouse.
France, he stated, would be on the path to “Mexicanization”in his eyes. “I also see, in French territory, that enclaves, mini-states, narco-enclaves are being formed. “I can clearly see, in the reports that have been given to me, the network of corruption that threatens our sovereignty.”he assured.
The minister reiterated his determination to intensify fixed fines against consumers. And, above all, he once again insisted on his desire for the Government to take up and reinforce the proposals of the senatorial investigation commission against drug trafficking. He recalled that a bill in this regard is in the Senate and expressed the hope that this text will be voted on by Parliament in the next “the next few months”.
“We are going to set up a “working group” break the ecosystem » drug trafficking, Mr. Retailleau added, highlighting the importance of “global strategy” to try to stop the phenomenon.
Three wounded by gunshot in Ardèche
In front of a nightclub in Saint-Péray (Ardèche), during the night from Thursday to Friday, three young people between 22 and 24 years old were also wounded by gunshots, according to a police source cited by AFP. These shootings, which would also be related to drug trafficking, according to the same source, broke out around 2:30 a.m. in the parking lot of the nightclub that was organizing a “Halloween party” on Thursday afternoon, from 10:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. A.M
One of the injured, a 22-year-old young man, was seriously injured by a gunshot to the head and was rushed to the Valencia hospital. His vital prognosis is in danger, according to the police source. The other two, with lighter injuries, are a 24-year-old woman, wounded in the leg, and a 22-year-old man who received bullet fragments, according to France Bleu Drôme Ardèche. Fifteen firefighters intervened during the night to treat the injured.
In Villeurbanne (Rhône), a man in his thirties succumbed to his injuries overnight after being shot in the head, in the Tonkin district. The perpetrator is a fugitive, according to a police source, who specifies that a 12-gauge bullet casing was found at the scene. The district of Tonkin experienced a series of shootings related to drug trafficking almost a year ago.
In Grenoble, around 12:40 a.m., a man was stabbed three times in the back and ribs and was taken to hospital in serious condition. The perpetrator of the attacks is a fugitive, police sources told AFP.
Next Friday, Bruno Retailleau must travel with his justice colleague, Didier Migaud, to Marseille, where the settling of scores between drug traffickers is particularly deadly and sordid, with the participation of young people aged 14 to 15 as hitmen. The two ministers must announce several measures together.
