- On February 10, bursts of automatic weapons exploded in the Pissevin district.
- In the sensitive districts of Nîmes, these facts have multiplied, lately. But for the public prosecutor, we cannot compare Nîmes to Marseille.
- The residents, who meet on Friday, ask the state to restore order.
On February 10, around 9:30 p.m., bursts of Kalashnikovs exploded in the Pissevin district, west of Nîmes, in the Gard department. Nearly forty automatic weapons fire resounded that evening, near a shopping mall, in this sensitive area, classified as a priority. Three people were injured.
Nîmes: three injured in Pissevin including one serious after a shooting in the Wagner gallery https://t.co/ZOuSI3zqpe pic.twitter.com/VHV5FV7ON6
- Gazette Live Nîmes (@GazettedeNimes) February 10, 2020It is not the first time that the capital of Gard has been prey to such shootings, in the middle of the street. Last January, shots had already been fired at Pissevin. But also in January 2016, April and September 2017, April 2018 and January, February, June and December 2019, especially in this district, but also those of Valdegour, and Chemin Bas d'Avignon, and, more surprisingly, in downtown streets. Should we be alarmed by the proliferation of automatic weapon fire in Nîmes?
"We are afraid of taking a stray bullet"
For Ali Karrim, resident of Pissevin, and president of the association of traders in the neighborhood, the latest events were a "shock". “It went up a notch, it cooled everyone, says this manager of a driving school. The population really feels in physical insecurity. We only saw that on TV, or in the northern districts of Marseille. There, it is at the foot of our buildings, near the shopping mall. Drinking a quiet coffee, we hesitate, we are afraid of taking a stray bullet. "
But according to Eric Maurel, public prosecutor of Nîmes, the comparison with Marseille, which is on everyone's lips, is inappropriate, despite the multiplication of automatic firearms. "It's serious, this development is worrying, but we are not on the same logic, gravity, conquest or preservation of the territory, or succession, that knows Marseille, or even Avignon", says the magistrate.
Shootings linked to drug trafficking
According to the mayor of Nîmes, Jean-Paul Fournier (LR), who requested state aid, there is no doubt: "Today, [the events] are no longer delinquency, but of a war of rival gangs, linked to arms and narcotics trafficking ”, assures the elected official. Yes, for the "vast majority", the shootings that broke out in Nîmes are linked to drug trafficking, confirms Eric Maurel. But it is impossible to know, on the other hand, whether these are confrontations between gangs from the districts of Nîmes, or from outside. "Serious work is underway," said the prosecutor.
On February 11, the day after the latest shooting, the prefect Didier Lauga, and the police, carried out an "enhanced security" operation in the neighborhood. The prefecture has thus promised that "the police force and the complementary security forces will ensure by their presence and their intervention the security of all the inhabitants of Pissevin". Didier Lauga, the prefect of Gard, notably announced that evening a "more frequent" presence of the police, in the Pissevin district. The creation of a police station in this area is in the cards.
The staff of @ PoliceNat30 and additional security forces will ensure, by their presence and their intervention, the security of all the residents of Pissevin, a district registered under the new urban renewal program @AnruOfficiel @Place_Beauvau @nimes pic.twitter.com / TWWf1REk5I
- Prefect of Gard (@ Prefet30) February 11, 2020 [#Daytime Safety] #Nimes
Reinforced security P Pissevin district #QRR by #CRS and 👮♂️👮♀️de #DDSP du Gard.
⭕ 3🚶♂️ arrested for possession and use of narcotic drugs ➡️transport and possession of a brass knuckles and an "opinel" knife #TousMobilises for #VotreSecurite pic.twitter.com/r02Mwr5Xmq
Will this additional police presence be sufficient? The Citizen Council of Nîmes-Ouest calls on residents to meet on Friday (3 p.m.) in front of the post office, to request that concrete measures be implemented in the Pissevin district. "We ask the authorities to restore the republican order, that we can move freely, safely, in the neighborhood," said Ali Karrim.
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