A man “known to justice”, suspected of the murder of a municipal employee shot dead on Sunday in Grenoble, has been identified and is “actively sought”announced the Grenoble public prosecutor, Eric Vaillant, on Monday, September 9.
“Four searches” took place on Sunday and Monday. in places where he is likely to inhabit. The man is known to the courts for various offences,” among which “theft, violence and drug trafficking”the prosecutor said., confirming information from Dauphiné liberatedAccording to the regional daily, a first search was carried out on Sunday afternoon in Saint-Martin-d’Hères (Isère) with the research, assistance, intervention and deterrence unit (RAID), and several others took place on Monday in different municipalities in the Grenoble metropolitan area.
Lilian Dejean, a 49-year-old cleaning agent, was on duty early Sunday morning on Boulevard Jean-Pain in downtown Grenoble when, having witnessed a traffic accident, he tried to stop the perpetrator from fleeing. He was shot twice in the chest and died shortly afterwards. The suspect’s car that was involved in the accident, an Audi RS3 – a powerful model – with a Polish license plate, was a rental vehicle, Vaillant said.
Minute of silence
The city of Grenoble and its colleagues, in shock, paid tribute to Lilian Dejean on Monday. “This is an unheard of violence that has befallen our colleague”said the Green mayor Eric Piolle during a tribute from the steps of the town hall. “We can’t stand these guns everywhere anymore”he said, expressing his “sadness” and his ” anger “. The Alpine metropolis has experienced a summer marked by numerous shootings between drug traffickers. At least seventeen episodes of gun violence have been recorded in the territory since the beginning of the year and the authorities no longer hesitate to speak of “gang war”.
Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers Drug trafficking: in Grenoble, the return of the “gang war”
Add to your selections
“There is a social issue that has been raised, but it is not today’s time”added Eric Piolle to the press. “Today is a time for solidarity, dignity and homage.” Gathered in the rain, several hundred people, including many elected officials with their blue, white and red sashes, colleagues and friends, observed a minute of silence in memory of the father.
In the morning, several dozen of Lilian Dejean’s colleagues, exercising their right to withdraw, had already gathered in the town hall lobby where they posted photos and messages to him, such as: “We will miss you” or “Public service died with you”The CGT also announced in a press release its “amazement” facing the “brutality” of this murder and stressed that “This tragedy is part of an increasingly harmful climate for frontline workers who are confronted with violence in their daily lives, whether they are public sector employees or private sector employees.”.
“The gratuitous and blind violence, the fear of the stray bullet, of settling scores, all this must stop in our country, where firearms circulate far too freely.”added Amandine Demore, mayor of the town of Echirolles (Isère) on the outskirts of Grenoble, where several deadly shootings have taken place in recent months.
A final gathering in memory of the deceased was held at the end of the afternoon at the scene of the shooting, bringing together around a hundred people, including members of his family.
