"
They shoot me, they shoot me!"
"This message, hunters from Serres-sur-Arget, a small village of 718 inhabitants in Ariège, heard it sizzle in their walkie-talkies on Saturday, December 19 while they were carrying out a hunt on the edge of the woods at a place called the Teychere.
At the other end of the radio station was the president of the communal hunting association, appointed as head of the hunt that day.
The hunt had just begun, and the President was sitting at the post, alone.
After a few minutes, he heard shooting noises, "
but he did not immediately understand what it was
", reports to
Figaro
Julien Moreau, president of the inter-municipal hunting association (AICA) which has around fifty members in the municipalities of Serres and Burret.
"
Then when he got lead on his face, he realized that he was being targeted.
The shooter was only about fifty yards away.
The president hid behind a tree, warned the other hunters with his walkie-talkie, and when the first hunter, who was 100 yards away, joined him, he found him face down. blood, prostrate, in shock
”.
Read also: A young man accidentally killed by hunters during a hunt in the Lot
"Attempted murder"
The place of the beatings was near the home of the alleged perpetrator.
About twenty gendarmerie cars went to the scene after being called by the hunters for “
hunting accidents
”.
The gunman, who had taken refuge in his home, immediately left and was taken into police custody.
"
Several pellets were found on the ground and the gendarmes recovered from his home an undeclared pistol, an American fist, ammunition and tear gas bombs
", lists Julien Moreau, who denounces an "
attempted murder
".
The weapon used to shoot the president of the association of hunters, however, has still not been found, but it would be a pellet air rifle, similar to those that can be found in fairgrounds.
In total, the alleged perpetrator fired 6 times, according to the president of the inter-municipal association.
Two shots would have hit the hunter, transported to the hospital in Foix: “
his upper lip was punctured and the incisor behind was broken.
He was also shot in the abdomen, but luckily the lead did not get through his coat.
The doctor who examined him stressed that he was almost knocked out and that he could have died from a hemorrhage on the spot if the jugular vein had been severed
”.
The victim is currently safe and sound, but is still in shock.
The reasons for the attack have not yet been clarified, but the town hall confirmed to
Le Figaro
that it was not an accident.
The inter-municipal association AICA became a civil party and lodged a complaint for the offense of obstructing hunting, which is punishable by one year's imprisonment and a fine of 30,000 euros.
Threats of "gunshots"
The mayor, Alain Garnier, himself a hunter, denounced a “
deliberate gesture
” and told us that it was not the first time that the shooter threatened the hunters in the area, barricading himself behind “
anti-hunting
”
signs.
.
"
He had already insulted a hunter who passed in the woods with his dogs
", breathes the elected official.
"
Four years ago, he had also threatened a hunter with 'rifle shots' on several occasions
", agrees the president of the AICA, "he
is an anti-hunting who regularly threatens and insults hunters
", adds he.
Numerous hearings have been carried out with hunters according to France Bleu, the battue bringing together about twenty people according to the Foix prosecutor's office.
An investigation has been opened and hunting activities are currently suspended in Serres-sur-Arget.
According to La Dépêche, the public prosecutor of Foix Laurent Dumaine indicated that the custody of the alleged perpetrator has been extended.
"
Today we can threaten hunters with death
," said
the Departmental Federation of Ariège hunters to
Le Figaro
.
"
This act of violence against hunters is linked to the surge of anti-hunter hatred on social networks, which are riddled with calls for murder, inciting some to take justice into their own hands
", worry the hunters for their part. of the inter-municipal association of Serres and Burret.