Christian Mercuri, the public prosecutor of Metz. – JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN / AFP
The man, now in a state of brain death, who tried to kill his companion in the street Thursday in Metz before shooting himself in the head, engaged in an “outburst of violence”, said Friday the Attorney of the Republic of Metz, Christian Mercuri. “The first witness hearings show the author’s fierce determination, an outburst of violence which characterizes his will to kill,” the prosecutor said at a press conference.
Christian Mercuri spoke of “a chase interspersed with several scenes of violence until the final scene”, the perpetrator pushing his wife to the ground and punching and kicking her. Then, “the last two shots were carried by the author, almost at close range”, the victim, hospitalized in Nancy, being seriously injured, added the prosecutor.
A mention in the criminal record
Still according to him, a first request for divorce in 2015 had been the subject of a withdrawal. The couple were again today “in the process of divorce” and separated for several months, the victim having custody of the three children of the couple. “In the meantime, to ensure the education and accommodation of these three children, a family solution has been found with the victim’s sister,” said Christian Mercuri.
The author’s criminal record contained only “one entry” dated 21 November 2014, “a conviction for violence by a spouse to a two-month suspended prison sentence”, which did not imply ” no judicial follow-up over time ”. He also referred to “a complaint for insults of August 2020 filed by the victim and dismissed by the prosecution”. More recently, on May 19 and 28, the victim again came to the police “to report that she had been the victim of name-calling and spitting” and that her partner had followed her in the car, he added.
The police, according to him, then “made the necessary connections” with the author’s background and carried out the “necessary due diligence”, seizing the medico-judicial unit to “assess the impact of the facts denounced by the victim”. “All of this was done in a very professional manner,” insisted the prosecutor. In addition, a video of the assault on Thursday, filmed by witnesses, quickly circulated on social networks, which the prosecutor denounced.