On Saturday evening, in Puget-sur-Argens, in the Var department, a man opened fire on two of his neighbors, killing one, a Tunisian, and wounding the other, a Turkish national. A few hours later, the Draguignan prosecutor's office confirmed that the alleged shooter had posted two hateful videos on social media before and after his attack. The suspect, a French national and a self-proclaimed sports shooting enthusiast, was arrested by the Orange GIGN branch as he attempted to flee in his vehicle. According to prosecutor Pierre Couttenier, several weapons were found in his car: an automatic pistol, a pump-action shotgun, and a handgun.
Investigation opened for aggravated racist crime
The alert was raised by the shooter's partner, prompting the gendarmes to quickly mobilize specialized response resources. The man shot, believed to be 35 years old, has not yet been formally identified but is believed to be of Tunisian nationality. The second victim, a 25-year-old man, was injured in the hand and taken to Fréjus hospital. His life is not in danger. The investigation, conducted in flagrante delicto by the Draguignan research unit, was opened for "murder and attempted murder committed because of the victims' membership or non-membership, real or supposed, of a specific ethnic group, nation, alleged race, or religion." This characterization demonstrates the aggravating racist dimension of the facts. The content of the videos published by the suspect, with their openly xenophobic tone, constitutes a central element of the case. It will be closely scrutinized by investigators to establish the exact motive for this exceptionally serious attack, in an already tense context surrounding hate speech and racism on social platforms.
