Two young people in their twenties were indicted on Friday in Angoulême (Charente) in the investigation into the murder of a young man killed on Monday with a shotgun in a popular district of the city.
At the end of their custody, the Angoulême public prosecutor's office opened a judicial investigation and requested their indictment with pre-trial detention.
The first, 20 years old, and who went to the police on Wednesday evening, was indicted by an examining magistrate for "intentional homicide" and "criminal association", said Stéphanie Aouine, prosecutor of the Republic of Angoulême.
Arrested in the night from Wednesday to Thursday, the other man in his twenties was indicted for "complicity in homicide" and "criminal association".
He was present at the scene of the tragedy which took place Monday afternoon at the bottom of a building in Basseau, a district known as “republican reconquest”.
At this stage, the context favored by the investigators is "a drug transaction that has gone wrong", according to the magistrate.
The two young Charentais, domiciled in the agglomeration of Angoulême, "are unfavorably known to the police and justice services, in particular for offenses against the legislation on narcotics", specified the prosecutor.
They were to be presented Friday evening to the judge of freedom and detention who will have to rule on a possible provisional imprisonment.
Hit in several places by gunfire
Aged 20, the victim, who resided in Royan (Charente-Maritime), was also known to the police and justice for acts of drug trafficking, according to the daily La Charente-Libre.
Hit in several places of the body, from the chest to the knees, he died of internal bleeding caused by "one or more shots from shotguns", according to the magistrate.
A neighbor reportedly heard loud voices early Monday afternoon, then someone running and finally gunshots.
According to the daily, the victim was trying to flee by the stairwell where he was allegedly injured on various occasions.
The young man was found face down by residents, according to La Charente-Libre.
"A transaction was planned between several protagonists including the victim and the two suspects and there was a disagreement which led one of them to use his weapon", explained the prosecutor.
An autopsy will be performed in the coming days.
Additional investigations will be carried out by the Angoulême police in co-operation with the Limoges (Haute-Vienne) judicial police.
Another man arrested Wednesday evening was released the next day, his presence on the scene could not be established.
