Young people die from gunshot wounds suffered during drug gang violence in Poitiers

Published on: 02/11/2024 – 23:50

1 min

The teenager, whose name has not been given, was shot in the head during a shootout on Thursday evening linked to the control of drug trafficking networks.

Four other youths aged 15 and 16, who were also shot during mass brawls involving up to 600 people in the city’s Les Couronneries district, were recovering from their wounds in hospital on Saturday.

“It started with a shooting in a restaurant and ended with a clash between rival gangs, involving hundreds of people,” French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau told BFM TV.

Retailleau sent hundreds of extra police to the city on Friday after the violence.

He has vowed tougher measures as part of an effort to undermine the rise of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party.

Fears

Concerns about crime and insecurity are cited as reasons why voters are choosing Le Pen’s faction, which says it will do more than other parties to tackle crime.

Jean-Marie Girier, the top police commander of the Vienne region, where Poitiers prefecture is located, described the Les Couronneries district as home to several major drug trafficking sites.

“What happens there means that the police have to intervene every day, but it remains relatively calm,” he said. “It’s not run by drug dealers, even though there can be tensions.”

On October 26, a five-year-old child was hit by bullets in Rennes during a fight between drug gangs and remains in hospital.

“These shootings are not happening in South America, but here France,” Retailleau told French broadcaster RMC.

“We are at a tipping point and the choice we have today is between a general mobilization against this kind of thing or the Mexicanization of the country.”