“It’s a permanent fight”: 24 hours after shootings in the Chemin-Bas district of Avignon, tensions persist

Education Assistant, Véronique Gardeur Bancel traveling to the Georges-Bruguier school. Midi Libre – Giacomo Italiano

The day after the shooting that occurred near schools, the Nîmes district continues to hold its breath.

This Friday, February 9, a few hours before the winter holidays, the tension remains palpable in the heart of the Chemin-Bas d&#39 district ;Avignon. Twenty-four hours after two men opened fire before fleeing in a 4X4, there is no doubt, fear and uncertainty reign here.

Scars that don't fade

While the authorities are working to shed light on this incident and numerous law enforcement patrols have been canvassing the area since the events , "it still leaves me speechless" confided, moved, Véronique Gardeur Bancel. While traveling at the school, Georges-Bruguier, the assistant for Education and Educational Success insisted on the sadness of the repetition of events.

"Two years ago we took the necessary steps in terms of security. Today, it is no longer a feeling of insecurity that is felt, it is only insecurity", she lamented. Twenty-four hours after the shooting, residents are trying to return to normal life, but fear and uncertainty persist. "It's serious what is happening. It's hard to live with for us adults, I can't even imagine for the children. I'm looking to move", says a father who came to pick up his two-year-old son from daycare.

What are the authorities doing ?

It's noon. While the bell of the Romain-Rolland college rings, a little further away, three national police officers carry out an arrest on avenue de Lattre-de-Tassigny. If security is reinforced and teams take turns day and night at Chemin-Bas, it remains to be determined how the authorities will respond to these legitimate concerns and what measures will be taken to guarantee the return a feeling of calm within the Nîmes district.

For Jérôme Bonet, current prefect of Gard: "We must use the presence of the mobile forces that we have had available since August' . This allowed us to be quickly on site yesterday evening and to make arrests on drug traffickers." For the&# 39;former central director of the judicial police, "it is necessary to continue to harass them. This is long-term work, he concluded.