Arson attack on the Pas-du-Loup grocery store in Montpellier: was the manager worried about the safety of his business ?

Le gérant de l'épicerie et l'automobiliste qui a tenté de le secourir sont morts tous les deux. Midi Libre – JEAN MICHEL MART

The tragedy occurred on the night of Sunday 6 to Monday 7 October at around 3:20 in the morning in a store located at 117 rue du Pas-du-Loup in Montpellier. The manager, Lakhdar Sebaa, and a motorist, Salah Eddine El Ibrimi, who was trying to help him, both died.

What was Lakhdar Sebaa, aged 70, doing that night in his grocery store?? The question haunts investigators and observers alike. Was he still working in the aisles after lowering his iron shutter that evening?? Or was he sleeping there??

According to the confidences of his grieving widow, which have come down to us, he had decided to set up a little corner to sleep on site because he was afraid. Whose? What? Why? The story, for the moment, does not say. But the fine bloodhounds of the judicial police are working to answer it.

Had he been threatened ?

Had he ever been threatened, extorted ? Did some people want to get their hands on his establishment ? Or make him close it because he was overshadowing his competitors ? There are many hypotheses. In any case, the sign had never made itself heard of by the police.

One thing seems to be emerging, the shopkeeper had decided to stay on site to ensure the security of his establishment that he cherished so much, in case criminals attacked it.

The facts, appalling and of an unspeakable cowardice, prove that he was right. There is no doubt, however, that he did not foresee the tragic turn of events.

Settling of scores

Attacks of this type have always existed, but it is clear that, on the Montpellier resident, they are found today more particularly in settling of scores targeting shisha bars.

As was the case on the night of November 25-26, 2019, with the establishment l’Empire, rue du Lantissargues (Prés d’Arènes), set on fire by several individuals.

Two hookah bar fires in the space of three months

Closer to us, on April 4, 2024 in the middle of the night, two hooded men armed with rifles burst into the Mirage hookah bar, located on avenue de Maurin (La Croix d’Argent). After threatening the people present, they ordered them to leave. They then doused the inside of the bar with gasoline and set it on fire.

Identical scenario, three months later, (July 16) around 2 a.m. in the shisha bar La Capitale, located at 154 rue Georges-Guynemer in Mauguio, on the outskirts of Montpellier, where two individuals, one with a handgun and the other with a jerry can, invited themselves to the party. After dousing the bar with gasoline, they set it on fire.

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