He was released without charge in the early evening. The mayor of Cholet (Maine-et-Loire) Gilles Bourdouleix was taken into police custody on Monday in Angers, as part of the investigation into the death of a young woman and her little brother during the fireworks of July 14, 2022, we learned from concordant sources.
Gilles Bourdouleix (DVD) says he was placed in police custody and questioned in the morning by the investigators, confirming information revealed by West France. Two other officials of the association organizing the fireworks, Cholet Evénements, were also placed in police custody and heard during the afternoon before being released, add the elected official and the Breton daily.
Homicide and manslaughter investigation
The seven-year-old boy and his 24-year-old sister, who came with their family, were killed when several projectiles fell in the middle of a group of spectators a few dozen meters from the launch pad, following a block malfunction firing of the fireworks in the center of Cholet around 11 p.m. An investigation for homicide and involuntary injuries had been opened following this tragedy. She had been entrusted to the Departmental Security of Maine-et-Loire and to the police station of Cholet.
The mayor of the city, who responded to a court summons sent several days ago, protests that, according to him, he was kept in a cell all afternoon on Monday, from 1:15 p.m. to 7:15 p.m., before be released without charge in the early evening. “It’s a real scandal,” he said.