In the Place de Coimbra in the working-class district of Couronneries in Poitiers, western France, on Friday, November 1, nine teenagers were huddled together, walking aimlessly in the sunshine. Their faces were closed, almost haggard. Some of them had been in the same place the previous evening, when a man fired a number of shots just a few steps away from them, provoking high tensions that led the French interior minister to wrongly claim there had been a brawl involving "several hundred people." One of the boys, who refused to speak, pointed to the back of his skull in response. A round scar was visible under his hair. He was one of five teenagers, all born in 2008 or 2009, who were hit by the shots. Slightly wounded, like three others, he was released from hospital at dawn.

The fifth boy, Anis S., aged just 15, was not so lucky. One of the bullets from the semi-automatic weapon used by the gunman hit him in the head. Hospitalized in extreme urgency, he was declared brain dead. At the mention of his name, the teenagers in the group break out of their silence for a moment to clarify that Anis had "nothing to do" with any drug trafficking. With short, vague answers, they spoke without going into any details about the possibility of a "quarrel," an "argument." Then they disappeared.

At 10.45 pm on Thursday, three men drove into the neighborhood and parked at the rear of Place de Coimbra, a large parking lot and popular gathering place in Les Couronneries, where a large market is held on Sundays. Facing a passageway in the arcade-like shopping arcade, one of them jumped out and opened fire in the direction of the terrace of a kebab restaurant, popular with young people, some of whom are known to the authorities to be involved in drug trafficking.

'Story of territories'

According to Cyril Lacombe, the Poitiers prosecutor, the perpetrator of the violence, who was officially still "being identified" on Friday afternoon and actively sought, "had only been present in Poitiers for a few weeks." He was "allegedly involved in the sale of narcotics in the Couronneries area in the preceding days." During a search of what may have been his home, parts of a dismantled weapon and several rounds of ammunition were found. "It's a guy who wanted to set up his business in Couronneries, but who was humiliated a few days ago by local residents and wanted revenge. It's a story of territories," said a source close to the case.

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