Fifth fatal shooting in Nantes: 19-year-old killed near Beaujoire stadium
A 19-year-old man was shot dead on Rue Jules-Grandjouan early Sunday, the fifth firearm homicide in Nantes since the end of April. All four previous killings have been linked to drug trafficking.
The latest incident
On the night of 27 to 28 June, a 19-year-old man was shot on Rue Jules-Grandjouan near the Paridis shopping centre in eastern Nantes. Firefighters from Loire-Atlantique were alerted around 4:50 am and arrived at the scene close to the Beaujoire stadium. The victim was found in cardiorespiratory arrest, and despite prolonged resuscitation efforts by emergency teams and a mobile urgency doctor (SMUR), he was pronounced dead at the scene. The shooting is the latest in a series of armed attacks that have shaken the city.
A growing tally
This death brings the number of fatal shootings in Nantes to five since late April. The four previous homicides, all linked to drug trafficking according to investigators, form a grim chronology:
- 28 April: a young man killed and another seriously injured in the Bottière district.
- 14 May: a 14-year-old boy killed and two others wounded at a drug dealing point described by authorities as “very coveted” in the Port-Boyer neighbourhood.
- 26–27 May: a man in his twenties shot dead in Halvêque, also near the Beaujoire stadium, after being chased by a motocross bike.
- 4 June: an 18-year-old shot in broad daylight in Bottière by hooded gunmen on two electric motorbikes; the attackers left and then returned to fire again at close range.
- A man killed and another injured in Bottière district
- A 14-year-old boy killed and two wounded at a drug dealing point in Port-Boyer
- A man in his twenties shot dead in Halvêque, near the Beaujoire stadium
- An 18-year-old murdered in Bottière by hooded attackers on electric motorbikes who returned to shoot at close range
- A 19-year-old man killed on Rue Jules-Grandjouan, near the Paridis shopping centre
Drug trafficking links
All earlier killings have been tied to the narcotics trade. The Port-Boyer killing occurred at a site that rival gangs were fighting over. The June 4 murder, in particular, shocked residents with its brutality. The public prosecutor’s office described how the victim was targeted with a “burst of fire” and that the assailants fled only to circle back and shoot the wounded man at point-blank range.
The victim was targeted by a burst of fire from hooded individuals on two electric motorbikes.
The motive for the latest shooting remains under investigation, but it fits the pattern of escalating drug-related violence that has gripped parts of Nantes. No arrests have been announced in connection with the Sunday morning attack.
