A child was killed and an adult wounded in Nimes, southeastern France, after the vehicle they were traveling in was hit by gunfire, authorities said, admitting it was a “settling of scores”.
French police indicated that the attack could have been perpetrated in the context of conflicts between groups linked to drug trafficking.
The shots were recorded at 11:00 p.m. (one hour less in Lisbon) on Monday, in the Pissevin neighborhood, a place known as the usual scene of drug trafficking in Nimes where other acts of violence have already taken place.
According to information from the authorities, the vehicle driven by a neighbor of the neighborhood, in which he was also followed by two underage nephews, was shot when he was about to park.
The fatality, a 10-year-old boy, was run over while trying to run out of the car.
French news portal Actu 17 writes that mobile phone footage shows an attacker wielding a shotgun before fleeing in a car driven by an accomplice.
The vehicle used by the attackers was later found destroyed by fire.
A police source quoted by France Info indicated, however, that several witnesses saw at least four attackers.
The assaulted driver drove the car to the hospital, where his nephew ended up dying.
The driver of the impacted vehicle was wounded in the back after the shots.
The French Minister of the Interior (equivalent to the Ministry of the Interior), Gérard Darmanin, wrote on the X social network that “the events appear to have been a settling of scores between traffickers.”
“It is a great drama that will not go unpunished,” said the minister, recalling that the “police have carried out several arrests in recent weeks and will intensify their presence” in Nimes.
Source: TSF
