At least two people have died and up to five more — including two minors — have been injured in a shooting that occurred on Friday night in the French city of Nice. The country’s public prosecutor considers the incident to be linked to drug trafficking. The perpetrators remain at large, while the search and investigation for premeditated murder in the context of organized crime continues.
‘The shots may have been indiscriminately aimed at people nearby — close to a drug sales point. These events appear to be clearly linked to drug trafficking,’ explained Damien Martinelli, the Nice prosecutor, on Saturday, as reported by the French newspaper Le Monde.
Police authorities indicate that around 9:10 p.m. local time, the attackers opened fire from a moving car using at least one Kalashnikov rifle, killing two people on the spot. At the scene, authorities recovered up to “25 cartridges of 7.62mm caliber corresponding to the Kalashnikov assault rifle and five 9mm cartridges,” whose origin has not yet been determined.
The mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, attributed the attack to drug-related violence and confirmed that automatic weapons were used. He also called for a permanent increase in police presence in the affected area, known for its high incidence of violent crime.
While initial hypotheses from the public prosecutor point to a possible drug-related revenge attack, the possibility that the shots were fired indiscriminately at bystanders has not been ruled out.
Security forces have deployed reinforcements to ensure the safety of residents, while the investigation continues under the suspicion of premeditated murder by an organized gang. The prefecture reminded that the neighborhood where the incident occurred had already been identified as a sensitive area due to its criminal history.
