The atmosphere is likely to be very tense this week in the courtroom of the Seine-et-Marne Assize Court, in Melun.
From this Monday – and for four days – the criminal jury will examine the fate of a fifty-year-old, prosecuted for attempted murder.
When he turned himself in to the police – on August 18, 2021 – the Coulommiers police station saw many people rushing towards him, calling for revenge.
So much so that the accused – now aged 57 – had to be transferred to the Meaux police station for security reasons.
Will the Assize Court manage to unravel what really happened that evening, in front of the home of Philippe B., the father of the family who will find himself in the box?
It was not quite 10 p.m. when the emergency services were alerted that a man, aged around thirty, had been seriously injured by a firearm, in Pommeuse, rue de la Cavée.
When they arrived, he was bathed in blood and suffering from serious wounds to his stomach and thigh.
While the victim – whose vital prognosis is then in jeopardy – is transported to a Parisian hospital, Philippe B. presents himself at the Coulommiers police station – accompanied by his son – to denounce himself.
He brought the juxtaposed double-barreled 12-gauge shotgun with which he shot the thirty-year-old.
A long-standing dispute between the two families
It is an understatement to say that the investigations by Departmental Security investigators were complicated to carry out.
Firstly because the crime scene had partly been cleaned up.
Then because everyone, witnesses to the facts or not, went out of their way to sometimes say anything.
The young man victim of the shooting, who benefited from a 60-day criminal ITT and suffers from serious physical and psychological after-effects, is expected to attend part of the hearing.
The accused insisted throughout the investigation that he never wanted to kill the victim.
He always explained that he was provoked by the thirty-year-old, who allegedly showed up completely drunk at his home.
Making threats and insults.
“The shot went off,” he reportedly explained.
The ballistic assessments promise to be decisive in trying to understand what really happened.
One thing is certain: neighborly relations between these two traveling families were already complicated before the tragedy.