Settling of scores between criminals or mafia-style warning: an explosive device shattered the front door of an apartment in Cergy prefecture in front of which it had been left.
Accommodation occupied by Russian nationals.
They were not injured by this explosion which is now in the hands of the Val-d'Oise judicial police.
The investigation service was seized of the case on the instructions of the Pontoise public prosecutor's office.
The facts date back to Sunday.
It was then around 11 p.m. when the device exploded and surprised the entire neighborhood.
He had been left in front of the door of an apartment on the ground floor of a building on Chemin Dupuis-Vert, in Cergy.
A small residence whose balconies overlook the prefecture park.
“Everything moved in the apartment”
The obviously targeted front door was blown out.
That of the apartment opposite was also damaged by the explosion.
The glass door which was located in the entrance hall was pulverized.
The damage, however, remains limited and reflects a relatively weak machine.
Investigators were able to collect the first elements from the neighborhood.
Two hooded men were seen fleeing after the incident.
On site, they also found a black box measuring approximately 40 cm and the remains of a tea light which may have been used to make the device.
The hypothesis of a settling of scores is now being considered by investigators.
The Russian residents, and one of them apparently Chechen, targeted by the device would also be known to the police.
The destroyed doors were replaced by armored doors.
“It stunned the residents of the residence,” confides a long-time resident, who has obviously never been confronted with this type of situation.
“What happened is strange,” he adds.
A neighbor recalls a powerful explosion: “I heard it while I was still in the car in the parking lot.
She moved.
My wife told me that everything in the apartment had moved too.
»
Another resident of the neighborhood says he saw a flash of light then heard the loud noise before smoke emerged from the entrance.
“It smelled like powder.
It's really very special and very impressive.
This is a quiet, family-friendly neighborhood.
There is a school opposite.
It's quite surprising.
» He explains that he does not know the occupants, mentions a family, children.
Since the incident, the doors of the two apartments have been replaced by armored doors.