A young rugby player died on Saturday afternoon. He was seriously injured by gunfire on the night of Thursday to Friday after a shooting in the parking lot of a nightclub near Valence. A tragedy which echoes the death of Thomas a year ago, killed on the sidelines of a festive evening in his village of Crépol. The two young rugby players belonged to the RC Romanais Péageois club.
New drama in Drôme. One year after the tragic death of young Thomaskilled during a knife attack on the sidelines of a village festival in Crépol on the night of November 18 to 19, 2023, another rugby player from RC Romanais Péageois (RCRP) lost his life. The Privas public prosecutor's office (Ardèche) made the sad news official this Sunday. As reported by AFP, it was in a shooting that took place on the night of Thursday to Friday in front of a nightclub near Valence that the young man named Nicolas was seriously injured. Two other people are still hospitalized.
“The investigation continues”confided deputy prosecutor Charlotte Cerna. According to our colleagues who rely on the first elements of the investigation, the shooting took place in the parking lot of the Saint-Péray nightclub around 2:30 a.m. and is believed to be linked to drug trafficking. Hooded and dressed all in black, the perpetrator then fled.
We are devastated again
On the club's Facebook page, the RCRP paid tribute to its tragically deceased player. “The club has been touched to the heart again since Thursday evening. Nicolas, Kolbe, Nico, the princess and so many other nicknames have just left us in atrocious circumstances. We are once again devastated and send our most sincere condolences to his family and loved ones.”
“Nicolas is no more. At 22, he was the victim of the shooting Thursday outside a nightclub in Saint-Péraywrote the mayor of Romans-sur-Isère Marie-Hélène Thoraval on X (formerly Twitter). I think of his family, his loved ones, his RCRP friends. An entire city devastated by this new tragedy, the consequence of a barbaric, gratuitous and totally senseless act.”
As a reminder, a year ago, almost to the day, Thomas, 16 years old and also a player for RC Romanais Péageois, was killed during a knife attack after around ten individuals tried to disembark in the Crépol village hall where the traditional ball took place. Although 14 people were still being prosecuted in this case last March, the perpetrator of the fatal blow has yet to be identified. On October 31, nine people were sentenced to sentences ranging from 500 euros to four months in prison for hateful messages on social networks against the suspects.
The Crépol drama had moved the entire world of rugby. Antoine Dupont and Grégory Alldritt paid tribute to young Thomas and a minute of silence was observed in his memory on all the lawns of France. The former coach of the XV of France, Philippe Saint-André, originally from Romans-sur-Isère, also confided his dismay. “I feel a lot of pain because I have many close friends who were in the white march. You should know that Thomas was a good child, an educated child, who was happy to live, respectful and crazy about rugby. Thomas was killed in a barbarity. I too, I did this ball in Crépol. You go to have fun, to dance, to laugh and you no longer come home.
To his family and loved ones, the editorial staff of Rugbyrama and Midi Olympique send their most sincere condolences.
