In Avignon, two young men aged 18 and 25 were shot dead in the Saint-Jean district shortly after 11 p.m. The shots apparently came from Kalashnikov-type automatic rifles. Nearly a month ago, a 16-year-old boy was also shot dead in another sensitive area of the city.
Two young men aged 18 and 25 were shot and killed Wednesday evening in Avignon, apparently by Kalashnikov-type automatic rifle fire, we learned Thursday from police and judicial sources. The shooting occurred shortly after 11 p.m. in the Saint-Jean district, known to harbor drug trafficking, these sources said, confirming information from Provence. The investigation was handed over to the federal police.
A teenager killed in October
The Vaucluse and in particular Avignon have experienced several similar events in recent months. At the end of October, a 16-year-old boy was shot and killed at a drug sales point in another sensitive area of Avignon, Monclar. Two men aged 20 and 34 were shot dead at the end of May 2021 in this same Monclar district, “obviously in the context of a gang war linked to drug trafficking” according to justice.
Less than a month earlier, on May 5, 2021, a police officer was killed when he intervened near a drug trafficking point in the center of Avignon. His death had aroused great emotion and fueled the anger of police unions.