In Trebes,
Parked cars, trolleys waiting in single queues under their huts, customers trickling in… The facade of the supermarket looks like thousands of supermarket facades. And the smiles of the employees inside don’t change the feeling of simply being shopping. But this Super U is not an ordinary business. Because almost six years ago, it was here that horror struck. On March 23, 2018, after stealing a car in Carcassonne, injuring the driver and killing the passenger, then shooting at riot police while jogging, Radouane Lakdim rushed into this supermarket in Trèbes to take hostages. Before being shot, the terrorist killed four people and injured fifteen others. The trial for these attacks, where seven people from his entourage are on trial, opens this Monday in Paris.
In Trèbes, at the very moment we talk about this dark day in 2018, faces are changing, for customers and employees alike. Many are reluctant to address this past hurt. “It’s heavy for me, I don’t want to go into detail,” says an old man, head bowed, heading towards the entrance to the Super U.
“Even if it’s painful, it’s good not to forget”
For others, talking is a way of not forgetting. As for Raymond *, a regular at the supermarket for years. “I knew the employees very well at the time, particularly the butcher [Christian Medvès, tué lors de l’attaque]. It always means something to me to pass here. Even if it’s painful, it’s good not to forget it,” he says, clinging to his scarf.
Many Trebeans experienced the events vicariously that day, but some are more directly linked to the tragedy. This is the case of Chantal *, who we meet at the exit, the cart full. Her husband was in the Peugeot garage when the hostages were taken. It was there, a few dozen meters from the Super U, that around ten customers and employees were able to find refuge during the attack on Radouane Lakdim.
“It was my daughter who called me to warn [que l’attaque était en cours] », Chantal explains to us, her voice trembling, as if she were reliving this day in detail. “My husband didn’t answer the phone, I didn’t know how he was, it was terrible to live with.” Her husband was not injured, but the trauma continued.
“We tell ourselves that it can happen to anyone, at any time”
For the garage manager, what happened that day is still too hard to talk about. The same goes for the Super U team. Moreover, today, only two or three employees from the time are still there. Many have made the choice to change their professional life. But it’s not just at Super U that the pain persists. A customer of the store, who works in a business in the city, evokes the resonance of these events in relation to her work. “I didn’t live in Trèbes at the time, but being a trader, I still feel today, in a certain way, that it resonates in my work,” she explains to us. We tell ourselves that it can happen to anyone, at any time.”
In the Super U of Trèbes, other employees have made the choice not only to stay, but also to get more involved. This is the case for the director. Already in office at the time of the events, she has since become a franchisee. Dominique Schelcher, CEO of the Système U group, recently welcomed this commitment at the microphone of France Info : “It’s her store, her territory, and she is very attached to it.” He will be present, in part, at the debates which open this Monday.
* First names have been changed