'People came to kill others', residents in shock after deadly brawl in Drôme

Jean-Luc Boujon 11:25 a.m., November 20, 2023

A 16-year-old boy was stabbed to death and two men seriously injured on Saturday night during a brawl on the sidelines of a party in a village in the Drôme region. A group of at least a dozen people went in the middle of the night to Crépol, a village 20 km north of Romans-sur-Isère and where a "private party" was being held in the village hall. 18 people were reportedly injured. Two days later, residents are still in shock.

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"They came with knives, cobblestones"

The small village of 500 inhabitants is still in shock. For this resident, there was a desire to do harm on the part of these young people. "They waited until the end of the ball until people were outside and then they started killing people. That's what happened. They came with knives, cobblestones. I'm sorry, these are people who came to kill other people," she said.

"We're not in a housing estate, we're in the countryside"

The investigation has only just begun. But the prosecutor of Valence gives credence to this theory of an expedition planned by these young people, who would have come several cars from Romans-sur-Isère, 20 minutes away, probably from the sensitive district of La Monnaie, to a possible settling of scores. Even if the exact cause is still unknown.

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"It's a shame. To be confronted with this in a village, in the countryside, it's not possible. What do we do? We stop the bullets. We're not in a housing estate, we're in the countryside. I don't know if you've seen around you, it's just fields, everyone knows each other. It's horrible, it shocked everyone," said Paul, a resident of Crépol. In front of the village hall where the fight took place, residents laid a few candles and a choir in tribute to the deceased young man.