William Molinié, edited by Juliette Moreau Alvarez
modified to
9:31 p.m., August 22, 2022
Heat stroke at the end of summer in the Rochefort Travelers camp in Charente-Maritime. According to information gathered by Europe 1, the police have just foiled an attempt to settle scores between several members of the Traveler community from different camps in the department.
It all started last Saturday, shortly before 5 am. A man, 40 years old and very unfavorably known to the police, is taken care of at the entrance to the Rochefort camp for multiple head injuries. Transported to the hospital, this man from the Surgères camp, a town located about 30 kilometers northeast of Rochefort, died in the early morning.
Arson and beating
An investigation is opened by the prosecution and is entrusted to the judicial police. The same evening, around 11 p.m., several caravans and vehicles went up in smoke within the Rochefort camp, without the police managing to find the arsonists.
The next day, Sunday, at midday, several witnesses report to the police that a man was beaten up in a parking lot in the city. The crew manages to save the victim, whom they recognize as a man from the Rochefort camp. The investigations then make it possible to establish that this individual, already known for crimes, is accused by the members of the Surgères camp of being involved in the homicide which occurred the day before.
Shotguns and crowbars
This first “return match” between the two camps led the authorities to divert three crews of the CRS 22, hitherto employed in La Rochelle. Barely deployed around the hospital and in the city center of Rochefort, two new starts of caravan fire are again reported.
Arrived in front of the camp, the police intercept four men including the son of the deceased, all from the rival camp of Surgères. Inside their vehicle: two shotguns chambered for 12-gauge cartridges as well as a knife and crowbars. They were remanded in custody. As for the man who was beaten up, he refused to file a complaint.
The investigation is continuing, among other things, to understand the reasons for the dispute between the members of the Rochefort camp and those of Surgères.