“Five people were sitting in their car in the McDonald’s parking lot when another vehicle approached them and opened fire with a Kalashnikov assault rifle,” the city’s chief prosecutor, Nicolas Bessone, said Sunday.
They added that two of the three injured rear passengers (two men and one woman) were seriously injured.
All three men in the car were known to police for drug dealing and violence in the South Toulon area, Mr Bessone said, while the women had no criminal record.
“Because of the activities of these individuals, we can believe that we are dealing with murders that may be very closely related to drug trafficking,” N. Bessone said later in a press conference.
The shooting incident happened just before 11 p.m. local time (00:00 Lithuanian time) in one of the poorest districts of the second largest French city.
Police are investigating a gang-related murder and attempted murder.
One of the wounded, a 29-year-old man who was shot in the chest, was in life-threatening condition but is now in a better condition, Bessone told reporters.
Meanwhile, the woman lost her thumb, while the third passenger in the back seat, a 19-year-old boy, suffered only minor injuries.
The police found 7.62 mm cartridges used in Kalashnikov rifles at the scene.
Prosecutors said a burned-out car believed to have belonged to the shooters was found near the scene of the attack.
Violence related to the illegal drug trade has increased in Marseille in recent years.
This year alone, more than 45 people have died in the city as a result of related violence.
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2024-09-21 06:44:23
