Eyewitnesses filmed a shootout in a residential parking lot in the French city of Aubagne on Wednesday evening, according to reports.
At least two uninvolved residents were struck with buckshot as roughly a dozen suspects engaged in an armed confrontation near apartment buildings in the Charrel projects.
Gunshots can be heard in footage showing men dressed in dark clothing running through a carpark.
🇫🇷 Aubagne : Des hommes armés tirent des coups de feu dans la cité du Charrel ➡https://t.co/Dxi2cl1pJ4 pic.twitter.com/EVgi9w8xQQ
— Actu17 (@Actu17) February 17, 2021
Aubagne 13 c'est chaud 😲😲😲 pic.twitter.com/QgoIkiQ2D6
— elmolo13officiel (@anedda_angelo) February 17, 2021
The suspects had reportedly fled the scene by the time police arrived.
A third injured person known to authorities for narcotics offenses was beaten with a blunt object during the melee, a police source told French media.
Investigators later found shotgun shells and 7.52 caliber casings.
"Was this an act of intimidation or an attempt to settle scores, against a background of drug trafficking? These are two avenues that will be explored by the police," Actu17 reports.
Gun battles in French cities are becoming increasingly common, especially in regions where drug trafficking and/or ethnic conflict are rife.
“These war scenes do not take place in Baghdad, but in Montpellier,” warned Marine Le Pen, France’s populist figurehead, after a recent shootout in broad daylight between 'rival gangs.'
“The security situation will remain out of control as long as the government does not disarm the suburbs and dry up trafficking.”
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(PHOTO: Screenshots / Twitter)