Shots were fired inside the Le Lamparo brasserie, in Ajaccio (Southern Corsica) this Monday evening around 11:30 p.m., while several hundred people were present in this busy establishment on this New Year's Eve . The toll was heavy: a man aged around thirty died, while six other people were injured, one seriously.
According to the first elements collected, “an individual who was in the establishment opened fire for an as yet undetermined reason against an individual who frequented the bar”specifies the public prosecutor of Ajaccio, Nicolas Septe. At least five gunshots were heard by witnesses present at the scene.
The firefighters and SAMU quickly intervened to treat four of the victims on the scene, while three others went to the hospital on their own. One of the victims, seriously injured by a gunshot to the abdomen, was transported in absolute emergency and operated on several times during the night. She died of her injuries on Tuesday morning.
The injured are aged between twenty and thirty years old. According to the prosecution, “in addition to the four victims treated on site, three others presented themselves at the hospital emergency room. When the emergency services, the police and the public prosecutor arrived, there were a total of seven injured, including one with a prognosis. vital engaged”.
An ongoing investigation
The investigation, initially opened for “attempted assassination”, was reclassified as “murder” and “attempted murder”, announced Nicolas Septe. It was entrusted to the Interdepartmental Directorate of the National Police (DIPN) of Corsica-du-Sud.
The Ajaccio public prosecutor's office clarified on Tuesday that “the person identified as the perpetrator is around forty years old and is actively sought by the judicial police services”. The prosecutor adds that “the investigations are numerous and are progressing quickly. Several avenues are being explored in order to arrest as quickly as possible the person identified as having been at the origin of this criminal act”. Furthermore, the trail of a private dispute between the author of the shooting and the deceased victim is currently favored by investigators, “against a background of excessive alcohol consumption”according to Nicolas Septe, while specifying that no hypothesis is excluded at this stage.
“The toll of this unspeakable act is very heavy”
The mayor of Ajaccio, Stéphane Sbraggia, reacted on Twitter, expressing his indignation: “Once again, human life seems very insignificant in the face of weapons and blind violence. The toll of this unspeakable act is very heavy. I hope for a rapid response from the police and the justice system, without forgetting that it It is also about fighting collectively against these evils which are plaguing our society.”.
This shooting comes a few weeks after an attempted murder in Lamparo. On November 16, the manager of this establishment was shot and injured near the premises. An investigation into attempted homicide has been opened, but no link has yet been established between these two events.
The autopsy of the victim, who is a young firefighter, is scheduled for Thursday. In the meantime, the police are actively continuing their search to find the shooter, while numerous witness interviews are underway in order to clarify the exact circumstances of this dramatic shooting.
