PARIS
\nFrance\u2019s struggle with drug-related violence is at a \u201ctipping point\u201d after a bloody shootout gravely wounded one teenager and left four more hurt, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said on Friday.
\nPolice were called out around 10:45pm on Thursday night in response to gunshots outside a restaurant in a working-class neighbourhood of western city Poitiers, a security source said.
\n\u201cHundreds of people were in the area and a fight broke out, with some of the youths accusing others of being close with the suspected perpetrator\u201d of the shooting, prefect Jean-Marie Girier told news channel BFMTV.
\nResponders found a 15-year-old lying on the ground with a bullet wound to the head, the police source said. He was brought to hospital while paramedics treated two more \u2014 a 15-year-old and a 16-year-old \u2014 for serious gunshot wounds.
\nAnother two 16-year-olds came to hospital themselves with lighter wounds, one to the scalp and another to a foot.
\nPolice said they found around 10 bullet casings from 22-calibre ammunition at the scene. \u201cThe \u2018narco thugs\u2019 have no limits any more\u2026 These shootouts aren\u2019t happening in South America, they\u2019re happening in Rennes, in Poitiers\u2026 we\u2019re at a tipping point,\u201d Retailleau told BFMTV.
\nFrance faced a choice between \u201cfull mobilisation or the \u2018Mexicanisation\u2019 of the country,\u201d he added, saying the \u201cskirmish between rival bands involved several hundred people\u201d \u2014 although a police source later said that between 50 and 60 actually engaged in fighting.
\nOfficers used tear gas to break up the fight, restoring order around 45 minutes after arriving on the scene, the source added.
\nThe prefecture in the Vienne department where Poitiers is located said police reinforcements would be deployed to the city\u2019s Couronneries neighbourhood by Friday evening. There were lingering \u201ctensions between different groups\u201d following the skirmish, it added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PARIS France\u2019s struggle with drug-related violence is at a \u201ctipping point\u201d after a bloody shootout gravely wounded one teenager and left four more hurt, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said on Friday. Police were called out around 10:45pm on Thursday night in response to gunshots outside a restaurant in a working-class neighbourhood of western city Poitiers, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":441290,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-441266","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n