The guns were spoken again Thursday evening in the Empalot district of Toulouse. A 27-year-old man was shot and killed. Samuel Vuelta-Simon, the public prosecutor of Toulouse, who entrusted the investigation opened for “assassination” to the judicial police, provided this Thursday afternoon some context on this second homicide of the year in this neighborhood plagued by rivalries between drug traffickers. Here is what we know about the events.
What happened ?
The tragedy occurred in front of the building at 18, rue de Menton, a place known to be a deal point. It was 9:45 p.m. when a 27-year-old man was shot at. “He was hit in particular by two projectiles, one in the chest, the other in the skull,” specifies the prosecution. A passerby, a resident of the neighborhood, attempted resuscitation on him. In vain. The youth was pronounced dead at the scene.
Who was the victim?
The victim had already escaped an assassination attempt, in exactly the same place, on August 4. Targeted by shots from “a shooter who has not yet been identified” and “while he was probably acting as a lookout for the benefit of traffickers”, continues the prosecutor, he was injured in the buttock and foot. The investigation, also entrusted to the PJ, is still ongoing for this first attempt to neutralize the victim.
The prosecution also specifies that this man was known “to the courts for having been prosecuted or convicted for acts of rape of minors, narcotics, theft, fraud and violence, committed mainly in Ariège”.
What is happening Empalot?
The popular district of Empalot, relatively close to the city center of Toulouse, has been the subject of a vast urban renovation operation for several years. Its famous, and rather disreputable, landlocked commercial slab has notably disappeared in favor of more open spaces. However, incidents have been increasing there since April 2023. “The neighborhood is plagued by rivalries between traffickers who want to take over illicit drug sales points,” explains Samuel Vuelta-Simon. The magistrate identified “sixteen serious events linked to drug trafficking” since the start of this territorial war. A first resident, 26 years old, was killed on May 29. Once again at 18, rue de Menton. Four suspects have been indicted in the investigation into his death, three of whom are in pre-trial detention.
Furthermore, there were four other attempted homicides by firearm “which caused injuries to individuals clearly involved in trafficking”, and around ten other episodes of shooting around this same deal point which did not cause any casualties.
What does the mayor ask for?
Referring to a “sad” period for Empalot, Mayor Jean-Luc Moudenc had already sounded the “alarm bell” last week, hoping to obtain specialized reinforcements from the national police.
In light of Thursday evening’s assassination, he renewed his wish this Friday. “What amounts to a new settling of scores confirms the urgency to act and strengthen all police and justice resources as quickly as possible, to further control these points of deal […] and dismantle the highly organized networks behind it, he said. We must not get used to these tragedies and let ourselves become tired.”