Armed with a gun and a saber, the 22-year-old killer attacked his 51-year-old father, his partner (48), his 17-year-old sister, the daughter of his 15-year-old stepmother and the child of the new union, a 4-year-old boy.
He was mortally wounded on Wednesday by the GIGN after hiding all night in the house, refusing to surrender.
“We are here to help the family, we are in solidarity with all the inhabitants who are here”, confides to AFP Mickaël Briat, 41, very shocked. “My son goes to nursery with the little one who unfortunately died, so we are here to pay tribute to them and support them”, continues in a trembling voice this driver born in Dover, white gladioli in hand.
At 10 a.m., family, friends, neighbors and anonymous people left the town hall square and headed for the victims’ home, 400 meters away. The mayor, Christian Limousin, leads the march in a heavy atmosphere.
In front of the house, roses, peonies and candles are carefully aligned. Children place drawings, stuffed animals and balloons on the gate.
Then ten minutes of complete silence.
“It was the first time that we saw this town so silent, with this atmosphere”, testifies, sorry, Vincent Duché, 23 years old. “The walk was necessary”, in “calm” and in “respect”, “it was what was needed”, continues the young auto-entrepreneur from Dover who did not know the family.
The march “was in their image”, sobs Murielle, a childminder from the neighboring town of Attignat, birthplace of the murdered father, a “friend” for her. “It was a village which (him) corresponded a lot (with) inhabitants who are really affected … How not to be?”, questions this forty-year-old, specifying that the decimated family had settled there “there two years old”.
This drama is one of the deadliest family killings in France in recent years. The prosecution has opened an investigation into intentional homicides. A second investigation will focus on the use of their weapons by the GIGN.
