“Guns are too easy to buy”, says mayor

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A police investigation is underway after two people were shot dead and a third burned alive on Saturday night in Marseille, southern France. This is the fourth death linked to gun violence this week, a phenomenon that Mayor Benoît Payan considers uncontrollable.

Two victims aged 25 and 26 were killed in the first shooting around midnight in the city’s 14th district, where 9mm Kalashnikov cartridges were later found.

Elsewhere, a 27-year-old man was kidnapped in the 4th arrondissement after a second shooting. He was burned alive in his car, according to a local police spokesperson.

“Although the motives for this latest attack are not clear at this stage, this new episode of violence will in no way diminish the determination of our state services to fight the wave of crime linked to drugs and weapons. fire and do everything in our power to find the suspects, “Marseille Police Prefecture Frédérique Camilleri said in a statement.

According to the prefecture, 94 police officers have already arrived in Marseille as reinforcements since the beginning of the year, while 120 police officers from the special CRS brigade are already carrying out 3 to 6 anti-drug operations per day.

Saturday’s incident follows a shooting on Wednesday in which a 14-year-old boy was killed and two others injured, still in the city’s 14th arrondissement.

“We must compensate for the lack of police presence, especially when it comes to combating the arms trade,” Socialist Mayor of Marseille Benoît Payan told FranceInfo on Thursday.

Responsibility of government

“In Marseille, you can buy a Kalashnikov as easily as a pain au chocolat,” he said.

“It must stop, and the Home Secretary, who is aware of the problem, must make it a key objective.”

“If people are being killed by Kalashnikov rifles, it’s because they sell too easily all over town.”

“It is our job here in Marseille to make an effort to help those who need help. But breaking down criminal networks, stopping the trafficking of arms and drugs is the responsibility of the central government. I sincerely hope that the state will make it a national priority. “

The number of deaths by gangs and drug-related violence in the Bouches-du-Rhône department (including Marseille) has increased in recent months, with 11 deaths recorded since the start of the year.

One of the victims was a 17-year-old girl who was killed by a stray bullet.

“These events show that terror is taking hold of these neighborhoods making the inhabitants of the cities victims of drug traffickers,” Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Thursday in an interview with BFM TV.

“I also know a lot of upscale neighborhoods where people consume cannabis and then wonder ‘why is this such a mess in Marseille?’ Sometimes people with high incomes actually help this business thrive, ”he said.

He pledged to increase the number of checks, including in the city’s upscale neighborhoods and said 300 more police would be deployed, including 100 before the end of the year, reiterating a pledge he made during ‘a visit to Marseille in February. .

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