A shooting incident believed to be connected to drug traffiking left five people seriously injured and sparked a massive brawl involving up to 600 people.
The incident took place on Thursday evening in the French city of Poitiers. One of the injured was a 15-year-old teenager.
France’s Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau described the shooting as an alarming sign of drug-related violence escalating in the country.
Last week a five-year-old child was shot dead in the north-western city of Rennes.
“These shootings are not happening in South America, they are happening in Rennes, in Poitiers, in this part of western France once known for its tranquility,” Retailleau told broadcaster BFMTV.
“We are at a tipping point and the choice we have today is a choice between general mobilisation or the Mexicanisation of the country,” he said.
Mexico has a long history of violence related to the criminal activities of drug cartels, that have left thousands dead.
The brawl was sparked after a drive-by shooting at a restaurant in an area of Poitiers renowned for its drug crime.
Photos from the scene in Place de Coimbra showed the restaurant’s facade riddled with bullet holes.
“Tensions between groups broke out, requiring the intervention of the police and the gendarmerie,” Vienne regional police said in a statement.
Retailleau said “400 to 600” people were involved in the ensuing fighting.
The Interior Minister was due to visit Rennes, the capital of Brittany, on Friday following the shooting on 26 October, of a five-year old boy.
The child was shot in the head and died of his injuries. Authorities confirmed the shooting was also drug-related.
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