A man shoots his ex-wife dead in front of the Montpellier judicial court before committing suicide: what we know about the tragedy

Le drame s'est noué sur le parvis du tribunal judiciaire peu avant 14 heures. ML – François Barrère

Divorced in 2016, they were summoned this Tuesday afternoon before the family affairs judge for the purposes of liquidating their property interests.

"We heard two gunshots. Everyone lay on the ground in the courtrooms as well as in the room of the lost steps. We all thought it was an attack. We're still shaking…", confided this Tuesday, a few minutes after the tragedy, a witness to the scene.

This February 20, shortly before 2 p.m., a man opened fire twice in front of the Montpellier judicial court, Place Pierre-Flotte, just before the court's security gate. The individual, aged 72, fatally injured his ex-wife, aged 66, before turning the gun on himself and killing himself with a bullet to the head .

When she arrived in court, he was already sitting on a concrete bench. I think he was waiting for it

"She was entering the court by approaching the security airlock. He was already sitting nearby, on a concrete bench. I think he had to wait for her, testifies Karine, lawyer, present at the time of the tragedy.

"As soon as she moved forward, he approached her and shot her point-blank in the head. There was immediately a huge puddle of blood, noise, screams. And continue: « She was blonde. Him with white hair tied in a ponytail. I heard the other detonation about ten seconds later."

357 long barrel magnum

The people present in court, lawyers and court staff were immediately confined before being evacuated. The area was immediately cordoned off and the crime scene frozen. On site, a long-barreled 357 magnum was discovered next to the body of the septuagenarian.

"When I came out, both were lying on the ground. He no longer moved but she still a little. She was taken care of by emergency services but could not be resuscitated", underlines another witness, deeply shaken.

The septuagenarian was not known to the justice system

During a press conference held at the Court of Appeal, rue Foch, at 4:30 p.m., the public prosecutor, Fabrice Bélargent , wanted to clarify that the two were "summoned at 2 p.m., before the family affairs judge for the purposes of liquidation of property interests following their divorce pronounced in 2016. He ;rsquo;was therefore a purely civil procedure. The persons concerned were therefore not summoned to court for domestic violence proceedings."

22 feminicides since the start of the year

The sixty-year-old shot in the head by her ex-partner, this Tuesday, February 20 in Montpellier, brings to 22 the number of feminicides recorded in France since the start of the war. year 2024. A figure that sends shivers down your spine and is listed on the site www.feminicides.fr so as not to forget them.

Her names were Antonia, Magali, Brigitte, Emma, ​​Bernadette, Michèle, Véronique, Leïla, Asmina, Ghislaine, Martine, Lucie… and they have the sad common point of having been killed by their partner or ex-partner.

Note that in 2023, there were (at least) 103 feminicides, 54 of which were in the context of separation and/or known violence.

From the first investigations, carried out by the interdepartmental judicial police service responsible for the investigation, it appears that there were no proceedings underway regarding violence within the couple. Nor a protection order.

The septuagenarian who, according to our information, lived in Castelnau-le-Lez, was not known to the courts. As for his ex-partner, she lived in Montferrier.

“The judicial community in shock”

During his press conference, Fabrice Bélargent made a point of emphasizing that "the judicial community was in shock" . And to specify that a medical-psychological unit had been set up immediately after the tragedy, under the authority of the prefect by the departmental fire and rescue service.

"As of this Wednesday, the direction of judicial services will put in place the internal psychological support system of the Ministry of Justice", he added. "So all the people who saw the scene have the possibility of being taken care of by this emergency unit."

For his part, François-Xavier Lauch, the prefect of Hérault, wanted "to greet all the actors. Firstly, the staff of the Ministry of Justice who reacted very well. But also the police officers who guard the court as well as the anti-crime brigade, the Samu and the firefighters who quickly arrived on the scene."

Finally, on place before the Montpellier court. My thoughts are with the victim and his loved ones. All my support to the court staff."

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