the essential
Philippe, a 22-year-old young man, died on the night of Monday April 15 to Tuesday April 16 in the town of Grande-Synthe (North), victim of a violent attack which led to his death. Two minors aged 14 and 15 were arrested, while the motive for the murder could be homophobic.
The town of Grande-Synthe is deeply shocked and in mourning after the death of Philippe, fatally attacked on the night of Monday April 15 to Tuesday April 16 by three people in the parking lot of a supermarket. He was found by firefighters in critical condition before being rushed to the intensive care unit. A few hours later, he succumbed to his injuries.
An extremely violent murder which led to the opening of an investigation by the Dunkirk public prosecutor’s office for “organized gang murder”. The investigation was entrusted to the criminal brigade of the organized and specialized crime division of the interdepartmental service of the judicial police of the North, while Philippe’s brother, Kevin, denounced the “relentlessness” of the attackers, who he described as “barbarians”, at the microphone of RTL.
Two minors in police custody, a third person wanted
Investigations are continuing to “identify all those involved” and “clarify the circumstances of the commission of the facts”, announced the prosecution. In fact, according to a witness, Philippe was attacked by three individuals, who stole his cell phone before fleeing, reports this Source.
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Two minors aged 14 and 15 were taken into police custody this Wednesday April 17. The two alleged attackers answered investigators’ questions and investigations are continuing to identify other suspects, Dunkirk prosecutor Charlotte Huet told AFP.
The youngest of the minors, aged 14, admitted to the police that he was the one who hit the victim the most. The latter would have grown up in an ultraviolent context with a father who hit his children.
The victim trapped in an ambush?
At present, the results of the autopsy have not yet been released but they should be decisive in understanding “with certainty the nature of the blows and the possible use of weapons”. The victim was allegedly trapped in an ambush. According to a Source in the file, cited by our colleagues at France 3, the homophobic track could be favored. According to them, the attack took place following an appointment on a gay dating site.
But The Parisian puts forward a completely different avenue: according to information from the Ile-de-France media, the two teenagers, already known to the police, would have set a trap for this social worker using the dating site Coco.gg. They allegedly lured him onto this “free chat site, without registration” by posing as a young girl wanting to meet someone romantically.
In addition, the first investigations by the Lille criminal brigade reveal that the adolescents have already set ambushes with the same contact technique in the past.
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If nothing has filtered according to the first information from the investigation, the mayor of the city, Martial Beyaert (PS), called on Facebook to “not give in” to “fear or the spirit of revenge” after the publication on social networks of photos presented as those of the attackers, accompanied by threatening comments.
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Prize pool and white walk
A white march is planned for this Friday, April 18 in honor of the victim, Philippe, who had worked occasionally in social centers in the city, his brother told an AFP correspondent. “He was coming home from a friend’s house, 100 meters from the house,” he said. A prize pool has also been created. This is intended to “offer Philippe a respectful farewell and bring comfort to his family”.
