- This story is developing, there will be more to follow.
A mass shooting linked to drug trafficking left a teenager and five other people, including two girls, seriously injured in western France, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said on Friday, in the latest such shooting in the that children were injured.
The shooting broke out outside a Poitiers restaurant, reportedly the “L’Othentik” kebab shop, overnight after “shots were fired from a passing car, wounding several people,” the minister said.
French police told Le Figaro that “at least 12” bullet holes, apparently 22 caliber, were seen in the restaurant’s façade and that weapons were found at the scene.
“What began as a shooting in a restaurant ended in a fight between rival gangs involving several hundred people,” Retailleau said.
Police said between 400 and 600 people were involved in the violence that escalated after the shooting.
The 15-year-old who was shot in the head was between life and death, he said.
A mass shooting linked to drug trafficking left a teenager and four other people seriously injured in western France, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau (pictured) said on Friday.
French newspaper Le Parisien reported that the boy’s family was informed that he was left in a state of “brain death” after he was rushed to the nearby Poitiers University Hospital.
The newspaper also reported that the other four wounded, three 16-year-olds and another 15-year-old, were also rushed to the hospital after suffering gunshot wounds to the shoulder, head, ankles and feet, although they are in a less condition. serious. condition.
City police said they were sending reinforcements to calm tensions.
The minister warned that the country was at a “turning point” when it came to drug trafficking violence.
“These shootings are not happening in South America, they are happening in Rennes, in Poitiers, in this part of western France that was once known for its tranquility,” he stated bluntly.
“We are at a turning point and the choice we have today is between general mobilization or the Mexicanization of the country,” he said, citing Mexico’s deep problem with cartel violence.
Léonore Moncond’huy, mayor of Poitiers, called the incident “a new episode of violence unacceptable for the neighborhood.”
‘The youth of the victims and those involved is particularly striking and worrying. I wish a speedy recovery to the injured and I call for everyone’s responsibility to maintain peace in the city,’ he added.
‘The city of Poitiers salutes the security forces for their intervention and their soon reinforced presence. He also welcomes the mobilization of the Maison de District des Couronneries.
“The city requests that an investigation be initiated to clarify the precise circumstances of the event as soon as possible and allow the identification and arrest of the perpetrators.”
Retailleau added that he planned to travel later in the day to the northwestern city of Rennes, where a five-year-old boy was also on the verge of life after being shot Saturday in another exchange of gunfire related to drug trafficking.
Drug trafficking in France has long been centered in major cities such as Marseille, where at least 17 drug-related murders have been reported since the beginning of the year.
But the problem is increasingly spreading to other cities and towns in France, including areas normally associated with tourism.
More to follow.
