Shooting at Chemin-Bas: “The police will remain as long as necessary in front of the Georges-Bruguier school”

Une soixantaine de personnes devant la préfecture. MidiLibre – K. H.

La moitié des enfants ne sont pas retournés à l'école et 14 enseignants sur 16 sont en accident du travail, tous traumatisés depuis les tirs à proximité de l'école en plein après-midi  le 8 février dernier.

"All that for that!", say Alexandra and Soraya, two disgruntled mothers in front of the prefecture where they have been waiting for two hours this Wednesday afternoon. The director of the Georges-Bruguier elementary school leaves, immediately surrounded by parents and teachers, to whom she briefly summarizes the content of the meeting which has just ended: prefecture undertakes to ensure that the police (national police, municipal police and gendarmerie) remain present as long as necessary during entry and exit times. school to secure families and teachers. 

Lots of expectations

This meeting, led by the secretary general of the prefecture, bringing together the academic director of the national education services, the interdepartmental police directorate, the departmental council, the city of Nîmes and the directors of the Bruguier school was a stage of work, after a first meeting which had taken place at the prefecture during the holidays, but everyone had high expectations.

Perhaps too much since the emotion has still not subsided after the shooting of February 8. "D&#39 ;as much as there have been others since, laments Jérémy, a teacher at the school, who has seen the situation in the Chemin-Bas district deteriorate over the past ten years."There is a tension in the neighborhood that we didn't feel before. The traffic is at the school gates, the shooting doesn't stop and the children who see everything from their windows talk to us about it all the time."

Very motivated teachers were waiting for a strong signal from the prefecture. MidiLibre – K.H.

Traumatized children

This Wednesday, March 6, around sixty people gathered in front of the gates of the prefecture, parents, teachers, union members hoping for more police forces or, even, the relocation of the school in another neighborhood. Johanna, who came with her 8-year-old daughter "who no longer goes to school because she is afraid" brandishes a petition "which has already collected more than 50 signatures".

Alexandra also keeps her children at home so as not to have to travel to and from school four times a day &quot ;at the risk of catching a stray bullet. When there is a noise, my daughter screams and throws herself to the ground, she is traumatized." Last week, someone shot through the door&# 39;an apartment. "The traffickers are everywhere and, above all, we no longer know them, it's shocking", slips Soraya.< /p>

What security at the Bruguier school ?

The prefecture reminds us that it has already been resolved. We implemented an exceptional reinforcement of the visible police presence, including the mobilization of a police unit. of mobile force, the conduct of two operations « net place » and the presence at high frequency of mobile academic security teams and the municipal police. Thirty-five arrests were made. achieved, 4 armed commandos were deployed. intercepted, and numerous seizures of weapons and narcotics were made. operated in the sector. Finally, psychological support units were set up. open à the attention of students and teachers. 

During the meeting, several proposals were put forward. formulated by the heads of the establishment and were implemented. discussed: the unanimous attachment to maintaining schools within the district, adapting the school building, strengthening the information protocol; in crisis situations, support   associative life in educational establishments and the sharing of the safety diagnosis.

The district retreats

The teachers are worried and angry. "Our school is a cocoon but around it, it's chaos", laments Isabelle who has spent her entire career at Georges-Bruguier. "Let us do classes elsewhere, in a gymnasium. Together and alive!" Laure, her colleague, drives home the point: "The situation is getting horribly worse. The neighborhood is retreating, the streets are deserted…"

Christophe Bloissier, the former director came to support his colleagues: "I'm disgusted, he said. Those in charge are repeating the same thing as five years ago. If the school is a symbol, we must provide the means. I'm really afraid that it will start again until the catastrophe.

"Will this be a deterrent ?"

While the relocation of the school was not mentioned at all, the maintenance of police resources as long as necessary leaves one quite skeptical. "What means are we talking about ? asks Jérémy, CM1-CM2 teacher. Will this be a deterrent ?" Teachers on sick leave discuss among themselves: to resume or not and when ? "What was proposed seems correct to me", says the director. With the police presence, traffic has already shifted a few dozen meters, towards the André-Malraux center. "As a result, theater classes at 6 p.m. y are more assured. We're going around in circles, says a mother.'

Alexandra decided: "I'm going to send my daughter back to school on Monday but next school year I'm changing her school. school. It's too complicated here, the traffic will never stop…"