He shoots his childhood friend, flees to Morocco and remains missing for thirteen months
A man is on trial in Essonne for shooting his childhood friend with a pump-action shotgun in 2021. After the incident, he went on the run for thirteen months, passing through Morocco along the way. At the hearing, the victim described the pain that still prevents him from working.
On December 1, 2021, in Draveil, a 21-year-old man was shot in the legs with a pump-action shotgun. Taken to Percy Military Hospital, he was at risk of having his left leg amputated. He kept it, but was left with lasting injuries: a nerve was severed and he can no longer walk for long periods.
On Thursday, before the Essonne Criminal Court, the victim described his life since the shooting. A former construction worker, he said he had tried to return to work but had been unable to. “I feel like my life came to an abrupt stop that day,” reports Le Parisien.
Two versions of the meeting, then thirteen months on the run
The two former friends give conflicting accounts. The victim says he went to collect a television from Yanis Y. and insists he was not armed. The defendant, for his part, refers to a dispute over money intended for drug trafficking. He says he thought he was walking into an ambush and felt threatened. According to the information presented at the hearing, neither the victim nor the friend accompanying him was carrying a weapon.
Yanis Y. admits firing the shot and apologizes. The victim refuses to accept his apology. After the shooting, the defendant evaded the search for him for thirteen months with help from people close to him. His flight took him as far as Morocco; he was eventually arrested in Seine-Saint-Denis in January 2023.
He is on trial for armed violence resulting in permanent disability, as well as for the unauthorized possession and carrying of a weapon. Closing arguments and the prosecution’s submissions are scheduled for this Friday, September 25, before a verdict expected in the afternoon.
