Weapons, drug addicts… In Saint-Georges, the feeling of insecurity spreads to customers and merchants of the shopping center

At the beginning of November, the scene shocked more than one. In the corridors of Passage Saint-Jérôme, adjacent to the Saint-Georges boutiques but not part of them, a 20-year-old man was arrested by the police after pointing a gun at a young woman with whom he was coming to have an argument.

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“I’ll shoot you and your brother”: He pulls out a gun in the middle of a shopping center and points it at a woman

The weapon in question, a Beretta, had been hidden by the individual known by the police to be involved in the narcotics sector in a box in the false ceiling of the shopping center, between the shops of a hairdresser and a a mobile phone repairer.

In our edition of November 9, Philippe, the manager of a cosmetics point of sale, expressed his fed up with a chaotic situation which has lasted too long for his liking. “There are always problems here. I have been here for 13 years and there were times when I felt so unsafe that I hired a dog handler to post him in front of the entrance to my training center. relaxation… The problem is that there are no cameras in the corridors and that there are four different entrances, so many exit doors when the delinquents want to escape the police. This rarely happens. a week without there being any fights or the police chasing individuals, Personally, I am seriously considering leaving the scene.

A salesman in the Silver Smoke electronic cigarette store, located in the shopping center, opposite the Intermarché store, Loan has a bitter memory of one of his last evenings at the store. He says: “It’s a bit scary here, we’re not going to lie. The police came to ask me, just last week, not to go down to the underground car park because of the presence of drug addicts…”

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“One or two big brands are perhaps missing”

Present on site for her Christmas shopping, Maryse, a retired Toulouse resident, admits that she is not always reassured to come and do her shopping in Saint-Georges. “We shouldn't see evil everywhere, but anyway. Between what we read in the newspapers and what we see once there, we can legitimately wonder if the place is secure enough. However, I I often come across security guards, but I avoid coming after dark.”

Michel, a customer encountered a little further on, does not feel in the same situation, but provides another analysis that could explain the gradual desertion of customers. “I don't feel in danger here any more than elsewhere, otherwise I wouldn't come! On the other hand, it's true that we don't step on each other here. It's perhaps that one or two things are missing very big brands to attract people But that suits me, at least I do my shopping peacefully (laughs).”