The apartment at 248 rue Sainte-Catherine, where the squatters had settled.
Marine Jaboureck
It was at number 248 that the squatters had settled. Returning from vacation, Saturday 20, one of the three legitimate residents had found that the door had been broken and that the apartment had been robbed. When he returned with the police, the locks had been changed and the decoration had been completely redone: “Carpets, a TV, an Xbox, clothes. As if they had moved in”, explains this man, who speaks of a “big blow of stress”.
The portion between Place de la Victoire and Rue Rabin Joseph-Cohen was closed to traffic. Marine Jaboureck
Fearing an overflow of violence when they intervened, the police then chose to ban traffic at the top of Sainte-Catherine Street. All access was closed from 5 p.m. between Place de la Victoire and Rue du rabbi Joseph-Cohen, in a perimeter also including Cours Pasteur and the perpendicular streets. All restaurants in the area have been evacuated.
Thirty members of the Raid then deployed. But, contrary to what was initially said, they had no contact with the squatters. When the police arrived on the spot, they had fled, either through the roofs or through other apartments communicating with the one they occupied. Some testimonies report a detonation around 5:30 p.m.
