A trail of blood was still visible shortly after the incident. A fight took place on the Savaldor-Allende esplanade, in Argenteuil, Monday May 6, around 6:30 p.m. Around twenty people reportedly came to this city center armed with iron bars to fight. These would be young people from northern Val-d’Argent and the Champagne city, located in the Coteaux district.
During this brawl, a young man aged 17 was stabbed in the lower abdomen. The wound was deep and caused the intestines to protrude. According to AFP, the victim was rescued by a person present on site. Emergency services arrived shortly after and transported him in absolute emergency to Bichat hospital in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. A second victim was treated. It concerns a 15-year-old boy who suffered some abrasions to his wrist and knee. He was transported to the Argenteuil hospital center for examinations.
The perpetrators fled when the police arrived. Around twenty municipal and national police officers remained on site for a while to secure the scene. An investigation was opened for attempted homicide and entrusted to the Argenteuil police station. At this stage, the motivations of the perpetrators still seem very unclear. It is not known whether this was a clash between gangs from rival neighborhoods, a dispute linked to drug trafficking or something else entirely. No arrests have taken place at this time.
“We’re tired of the fights”
One of the two victims, at least, lived in the Salvador-Allende city. However, several mothers believed a few minutes after the events that it was a settling of scores between individuals from outside the neighborhood. “Here everyone knows each other. They are people from elsewhere. They come here to fight because it’s central,” says one of them. “We’re tired of the fights,” complains another.
The last attack of this type in this location dates back to December 2020. Two hypotheses were put forward when an 18-year-old boy had received two stab wounds to the thigh. One reported a raid by young people from the ZUP in northern Val-d’Argent to attack those in the city center. The other likened this violence to the consequences of confinement on drug trafficking in the town. Faced with supply difficulties, some traffickers were forced to “rent” their trading points to rival groups. .
