The chase escalated. A woman was killed and a child injured, both by gunfire, on Saturday in Cayenne during an attempt to steal phones and jewellery that did not concern them. The two perpetrators of the attack fled the scene, the prosecutor's office said on Monday. The incident took place on Saturday afternoon: two armed individuals tried to rob a young man carrying a phone and jewelry, but the latter did not let it happen and ran away, according to Yves Le Clair, the public prosecutor of Cayenne.
A chase ensues during which the criminals open fire. The prosecuted man "thinks he was hit, fell and then got back up," the prosecutor said. The shot(s) did not hit him, however, but a woman and a young child who were nearby were hit. The perpetrators then ran from the scene, according to the magistrate.
The woman was pronounced dead at the scene at 17:13 p.m. by emergency services, according to the prosecutor. The child, aged 2 or 3, was taken to hospital. His prognosis was life-threatening, which was no longer the case on Monday morning, as assured by the police, who also confirmed a family link between the two victims. The investigation has been entrusted to the judicial police of Cayenne.
In the summer of 2022, the Cayenne prosecutor's office experimented with the dismissal without prosecution of seizures of less than 1.5 kg of cocaine in French Guiana, in particular with the aim of "accentuating the effort on violence committed on the public highway".
