The excitement is great, in Etampes, Essonne, after a firefighter was injured by gunshot, Tuesday evening, according to information from Europe 1. His days are not in danger and the circumstances of these shots remain still unclear, while the mayor of the city denounced "unacceptable abuses". We take stock of what we know about this event, which the Minister of the Interior called "an odious act".
What happened on Tuesday evening?
A 49-year-old master sergeant was called with his crew for an intervention shortly before 11:30 p.m. on a car on fire in the sensitive district of Guinette, but without scuffles. When the firefighters arrive, there is no gathering, no ambush. A priori they did not even hear a detonation. However, the firefighter was hit by a gunshot. The bullet passed through his calf. His days are not in danger.
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Where is the investigation?
The perpetrator is actively sought, but so far neither the projectile nor the weapon have been identified. Was it stray bullets or deliberate fire aimed at the firefighter or the police, who were right next door? The two tracks are studied. The investigation was opened for an assassination attempt on firefighters and on persons holding public authority, the most serious qualification possible. This is classic as long as the facts are not more precisely established. The investigations were entrusted to the Departmental Security of Essonne.
How do the authorities react?
On Wednesday, the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, denounced on Twitter "heinous acts". Invited to the morning of Europe 1, Thursday, the minister went on site to affirm his "compassion" and the "disgust" that inspired him this act, which is an "aggression against the Republic".
I am this evening in Etampes to support the staff of @ sdis91 and tell all the firefighters in France all the disgust that inspires us in the cowardly aggression of which one of them was the victim.
The Republic will never back down from these very serious attacks. pic.twitter.com/9OewJ9h7cG
The mayor LR of the city, Franck Martin, denounced him an "ambush" with Franceinfo: "It is an operation which was managed with full knowledge of the facts by the authors of the vehicle fire" at the origin of the call. "A course has been crossed. It is very serious. There are unacceptable drifts" on the part of "a small minority of bastards".