A suspect in the shooting which left one dead and four injured, all minors, on Thursday October 31 in Poitiers, turned himself in to the police in Paris and is currently in police custody, the prosecution announced. “Checks are underway to confirm his identity and to verify whether he is indeed the person who was the subject of a search warrant issued by the Poitiers public prosecutor’s office”specified the public prosecutor of Poitiers, Cyril Lacombe.
As part of the investigation opened for assassination and attempted assassination, a man who “would have engaged in the sale of narcotics” in the Couronneries district, site of the shooting that occurred Thursday evening, “during the previous days”had been actively sought since Friday.
During a search of a home he allegedly occupied, seven rounds of ammunition of the same caliber as the eleven found on the premises, as well as “partial elements of a disassembled weapon”were seized by the police, according to the prosecution.
“Fights between rival gangs”
The events took place in the Couronneries district, classified as a priority for city policy (QPV). According to the prefect of Vienne, Jean-Marie Girier, this district is home to “two or three deal points which are important and mobilize the national police a lot on a daily basis” but stay “relatively calm” : “It is not held by the dealers, even if there can be tensions”Jean-Marie Girier emphasized on Friday.
Scuffles took place Thursday evening after the events, involving a few dozen people, according to the police and the prosecution, while some were accused by others of knowing the shooter.
In a morning interview on BFM-TV/RMC on Friday, the Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, sowed confusion by falsely asserting that the shooting had been followed by a “brawl between rival gangs which[vait] engaged several hundred people »of “400 to 600 people”, according to “a report from the prefect”.
The environmentalist mayor of Poitiers, Léonore Moncond'huy, deplored “an unprecedented episode” in the history of this town of around 90,000 inhabitants, which, according to her, “testifies to a fairly serious evolution of society”calling for more security resources on the ground. The councilor also deplored “the gap between the government's martial speeches and the reality of the means available on the ground”.
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