A brawl involving several hundred people took place on the evening of Thursday October 31. Five people were seriously injured, including at least three minors.
Halloween night turned into a nightmare. Around 10:45 p.m. this Thursday, October 31 in Poitiers (Vienne), an evening degenerated, leading to a shooting between several groups, according to information from BFMTV. According to the Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau, “several people […] between 400 and 600 are involved” in this shooting. It would be a “restaurant which turned into a brawl”.
The police quickly arrived on site. Emergency services were also deployed. Five people were shot and injured. Among them, two 16-year-old teenagers and one 15-year-old. The latter's vital prognosis is in jeopardy.
Violence against a backdrop of drug trafficking
The Minister of the Interior confirmed the link between this shooting and drug trafficking. He makes a comparison with certain South American countries: “These shootings are not happening in South America, they are happening in Rennes [où un enfant de 5 ans a été grièvement blessé par balles à la tête, samedi 26 octobre, dans un quartier réputé pour abriter du narcotrafic, NDLR] in Poitiers, in this Western France once renowned for its tranquility.” Bruno Retailleau continues the comparison by assuring that “we are at the tipping point and the choice we have today is a choice between a general mobilization or the Mexicanization of the country”. Enough to serve the interests of the tenant of Place Beauvau. He pleads for security measures which do not please part of the hemicycle, but which could well be adopted after such close events in time and in gravity.
