Yesterday, it was around 9:30 a.m. when gunshots rang out near a shopping center located at 60 Paul-Montel Boulevard.
According to witnesses, individuals dressed in black clothing and balaclavas were seen chasing another individual. The police on site found no victims or injured persons. However, testimonies claim that one person might have been injured but did not wait for emergency services. According to our colleagues from Nice-Matin, the police were able to arrest three individuals. The intervention of the national police ended around 2:00 p.m., and traffic was able to resume normally.
For the Unité SGP Police 06 union, the leading national police union, this shooting is unacceptable: “Our colleagues intervene under increasingly complicated conditions in this area.” For Unité SGP Police 06, “only a massive and sustainable reinforcement of personnel will be able to curb this scourge. There is an urgent need to strengthen Nice and the districts of 06.”
Philippe Vardon, an opposition municipal councilor, also expressed his outrage on social media about the repetition of such incidents: “In October 2016, Christian Estrosi spoke about Les Moulins, referring to a neighborhood at the heart of this revolution, for ‘the Nice of the 21st century.’ Drug trafficking, radical imams, shootings, is this what the Nice of the 21st century looks like!?”
Later in the day, Christian Estrosi mentioned in a press release “a very concerning situation.” It has also been several months since I have been alerting public authorities and asking the Minister of the Interior to provide significant resources. Just last week, with my First Deputy Anthony Borré, we requested during his visit to Nice, to reinforce the national police forces, curb drug trafficking, and include Nice among the cities benefiting from the national enhanced security plan (PNSR) to make up for the lack of nearly 100 national police officers. Again this morning, I alerted the Minister’s Chief of Staff on these issues.
I once again request additional resources. Without waiting for a new act of decentralization, I demand an immediate action plan to restore order in the Republican Reconciliation Districts. And if the State is no longer capable of implementing the necessary measures, that it grants Mayors who wish to, the ability to act more decisively.”
