This violence is a “series of incidents perhaps linked to the date of Halloween”, celebrated Thursday evening, commented on Saturday the prefect delegate of Rhône for security, Juliette Bossart-Trignat.
In Rillieux-la-Pape, a town in the metropolis located north of Lyon, urban violence took place two evenings in a row.
Thursday evening, hooded young people set fire to several cars and trash cans and three minors were arrested.
On Friday, two Transports en commun Lyonnais (TCL) buses were set on fire around 9:00 p.m. by around twenty “hooded and masked young people”, according to Ms. Bossart-Trignat.
The group of young people “stopped the two articulated buses, made the drivers and passengers get out, spilled gasoline and set them on fire” the buses, she detailed. One of the burning vehicles rolled slightly and threatened an apartment building whose residents had to be evacuated briefly.
The law enforcement officers who intervened were “violently attacked“, with projectile jets, added the prefect during a press briefing in Lyon. A police officer was slightly injured in the face. There has been no arrest so far for these facts.
Video images published on social networks Friday evening showed the carcasses of the two buses engulfed in flames, on a lane reserved for them, emitting heavy black smoke.
Shortly before on the same avenue, police intervened to stop a “wild barbecue” organized by around twenty young people. Some cars and trash cans were also set on fire, and the police used tear gas.
During this latest incident, a person was arrested on Friday for “contempt and rebellion” and placed in police custody. She should be brought before the courts, according to a source close to the case.
On Saturday, two other suspects in connection with the wild barbecue were arrested and placed in police custody also for “contempt and rebellion”, according to the prefecture.
“The police will be very present in the neighborhood“Saturday evening in Rillieux-La-Pape, with personnel from the CRS, the BAC, a canine brigade and a departmental intervention company, detailed the prefect responsible for security.
Other violence was also committed late Friday in the town of Saint-Fons, located south of Lyon. A group of around thirty people set fire to cars and trash cans, and fired fireworks.
The police who arrived on the scene were targeted by projectiles and had to use tear gas.
Three people were arrested and taken into custody after these incidents, according to a police source.
