what we know about the murder of a couple in the city center

A young man and his partner were shot this Saturday, December 21 around 10:30 p.m. in the head while they were in a nighttime grocery store in the town center of La Seyne-sur-Mer.

A couple was shot dead in a night grocery store in La Seyne-sur-Mer (Var). The victims were killed around 10:30 p.m. Specifically, the 29-year-old man was shot three times in the head and the 31-year-old woman was shot, also in the head. A man living nearby raised the alarm after hearing screams.

• An unfavorably known victim

The Toulon public prosecutor's office told BFM Toulon Var that the couple had been living in the city center of La Seyne-sur-Mer for several months. They ran this night grocery store located on rue Marceau, very close to the port.

The man, born in 1995, was a native of Marseille and his father was the legal manager of the business. He was known to the police and justice services in Marseille where he had been convicted ten years ago for drug trafficking.

Furthermore, he was indicted in Marseille for acts of criminal association with a view to preparing a crime and violation of weapons legislation. He was under judicial supervision in this last case. His wife was born in 1993 in Türkiye.

• The investigation has only just started

According to our information, a man was arrested in the city of Beaucaire, in Toulon in possession of 9mm ammunition. He was trying to get rid of clothes. He was taken into police custody but so far no formal link has been established with the double murder. The Toulon judicial police (DCOS) and the Var interdepartmental police department (DIPN) are in charge of the investigation.

At this time, they cannot determine if there was one or more shooters. Their findings confirmed, however, that the perpetrator(s) had fired several times. The bodies of the two victims will be autopsied early next week.

• An urgent meeting organized

The couple had moved to the neighborhood a few months earlier. A shopkeeper explained to our microphone that they were “always super nice” when she met them.

Cheikh Mansour, deputy in charge of municipal police, security and tranquility in La Seyne-sur-Mer, told BFM Toulon Var of “a certain sadness” after the death of the couple. An event of “extreme violence which greatly shocked the people of Seynois”.

He said that “80 checks” had recently been carried out in night grocery stores. “We asked the prefecture to organize an urgent meeting in order to deal with this recurring problem which causes numerous problems for the public security of residents,” he indicated, specifying that he wanted, as in Marseille, an order to authorize the closure of grocery stores at night in certain areas of the city.