The barrel of a gun was pointed at his forehead. Before suffering a blow to the head from a rifle butt. A pharmacist on Avenue du Maine in Paris (14th century) was injured by a robber this Thursday late in the afternoon. Colleagues of the practitioner and customers intervened in the pharmacy and managed to neutralize the criminal on the spot. The latter, a 19-year-old homeless man, was still in police custody this Friday morning.
It is a little after 6 p.m. when a young man presents himself in the pharmacy. Initially, it seems, there was no violence. He asks the pharmacist, a 55-year-old man, for codeine. This painkiller, very effective when you are sick, can easily cause dependence outside of a medical setting. Except that there, the young person who asks for this medication has no prescription to present. He therefore received a refusal.
It is at this moment, apparently, that he pulls out a firearm, which we do not know if it is fake or real, and threatens the practitioner by pointing it at him. The pharmacist does not give in. The attacker then delivered a violent blow to his forehead with a rifle butt. A gesture which provokes the intervention of the practitioner's colleagues who throw themselves on the young man. With the help of customers, they managed to keep her on the ground before a police crew arrived.
The victim, who had a bleeding wound on his forehead, was transported by firefighters to Cochin hospital in Paris (14th century) for stitches. The Paris prosecutor's office has opened an investigation into attempted armed robbery. She was entrusted to the 14th century police station.
According to the order of pharmacists, in 2023, 40 attacks per month have been recorded throughout the national territory, or more than one per day. A figure increasing by 30% compared to the previous year.
