Moroccan Man Killed in Targeted Shooting Near Bordeaux, Investigation Underway

Several armed people on board a vehicle disembarked in the Robert-Guichard social housing residence, firing shots in the air without causing any injuries, before heading towards a house on the outskirts of the town, rue Michel-de-Montaigne, where men were playing cards. The individuals fired new shots from outside the house, one of which hit the victim in the throat as he was inside the house. Alerted by witnesses, the emergency services quickly arrived on the scene, but were unable to revive the young man, reports Sud Ouest.

The attackers fled. Their vehicle was found abandoned and burned in Sainte-Foy-la-Grande. The police are actively searching for them. An investigation has been opened for "organized murder, criminal conspiracy to commit a crime and armed violence," says the deputy prosecutor of Bordeaux, Rachel Bray, specifying that the attackers would be six in number. The victim, of Moroccan origin, "was not known to the justice system," adds the magistrate who informs that an autopsy of the body will be carried out at the beginning of the week. The investigation is ongoing. For the moment, "it is still much too early" to advance hypotheses on the motive for the murder, underlines the deputy prosecutor.

Vincent and his daughter, residents of the Robert-Guichard residence, witnessed the first shots. "They knew those they were looking for, they called them by their first names," the young girl confides. And she adds: "It’s crazy, we’ve never seen anything like this here. The residence is rather quiet. In this neighborhood, nothing much ever happens." A neighbor of the victim, on Rue Michel-de-Montaigne, also testifies to having "seen a man on his knees who was bleeding from the face and another trying to treat him. The impact on the door shows that it was not with a rifle that they shot."

The young man was apparently not very appreciated in the neighborhood where he has "lived for about six months" according to the neighbor. "It was party time every night between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. There was a lot of traffic, cars stopping and leaving, often big engines," he recounts. The death of the young man has caused great emotion in the municipality. "We are stunned by these events of extreme violence. We hope the perpetrators will be found very soon," declared the mayor, Jacques Breillat.