One of the injured dies, bringing the death toll to two

A second victim of the shooting that occurred at a wedding this weekend in Thionville (Moselle) has died. Four other people were injured, two of them seriously. The investigation is moving towards organized crime.

On the night of Saturday 29 to Sunday 30 June, around a hundred people from the Turkish community gathered to celebrate a wedding at the Eden Palace, a reception hall in Thionville (Moselle). Around one o’clock in the morning, a 4×4 type car, “probably BMW brand”according to a police source, arrived at the scene of the festivities. On board the vehicle were three hooded men, dressed in black and heavily armed. The attackers first opened fire on three people outside the hall, then on two people present in the entrance hall, before fleeing at the wheel of the same vehicle.

Investigation opened for murder by an organized gang

“Four people were shot. At present, one has died, three others are in a critical condition.”indicated the Nancy prosecutor on Sunday afternoon. This Monday, 1^is July, one of the victims hospitalized yesterday in critical condition succumbed to his injuries. “For two other victims initially hospitalized in a state of absolute emergency, the vital prognosis is no longer engaged,” explains to the “Nouvel Obs” the deputy public prosecutor of Nancy, Vincent Legaut.

The Thionville public prosecutor’s office has relinquished the case to the specialized interregional jurisdiction (Jirs) of Nancy. Which entrusted the investigation, opened under the classification of murder by an organized gang and attempted murder by an organized gang, to the Metz judicial police.

Marriage was not intended as such.

According to “Le Parisien”, the deceased person is 34 years old and the three injured men are known to the police for drug-related matters. “Very clearly, we are heading towards a settling of scores against a backdrop of drug traffickinga judicial source told the daily. “The wedding was not the subject of the issue, it was the people who were at the wedding.”

According to -, the premises are covered by surveillance cameras. The Nancy prosecutor’s office did not respond to our questions on this point.

At the scene on Sunday morning, AFP reporters were able to see forensic experts taking samples from a car, which was then taken away by a tow truck. At least three bullet holes were visible on a glass door leading to the large reception room, surrounded by a large parking lot, part of which was closed off by police tape.

Participants from Metz

The border area of ​​Lorraine is plagued by drug trafficking. In May 2023, in Villerupt, in the neighboring department of Meurthe-et-Moselle, shootings between rival gangs at a drug dealing point left five people injured.

On Facebook, the mayor of Thionville, Pierre Cuny, wanted to express himself: “It was a wedding celebration and I would of course like to, on your behalf, [à] to provide our moral support to the victims and newlyweds,” specifying that “all participants come from the urban area” from Metz, and that there was no “no Thionville resident”. To this, he added that he would not make any comment in view of the electoral context.