This is the phrase that is going round and round among the police officers contacted this Monday. Apart from the attacks of 2015, never in France has there been such a long shooting, and with assault rifles, apparently. Between the first call for emergency police at 1:56 a.m. and the last, at 3:03 a.m., 67 endless minutes passed. According to several sources, “more than a hundred shell casings” from automatic weapons (9 mm and 7.62 mm) were discovered on site. The 7.62 mm ammunition fired by Kalashnikovs is capable of penetrating residential walls. Shots also pierced two homes in the neighborhood, fortunately sparing their residents.
Since the Paris attacks in 2015, a national intervention plan for security forces has been put in place for terrorism and mass killings. The departure time after alerting the specialized forces (GIGN, RAID, BRI-BAC – anti-commando brigade in Paris -, and their branches in the provinces) must not be more than 30 minutes, day or night, every days of the year. Rennes has a RAID antenna. “By the time it was realized that it was assault rifle fire, that it was continuing over time, the RAID alert was triggered at 2:18 a.m.,” specify several sources. “They were there around 2:45 a.m.,” adds a police officer. They decided to advance slowly with the armored vehicle at the head of the procession. The shooting stopped at 3:03 a.m. The police took possession of “4 Banat” at 3:30 a.m. » On site, at 4 a.m., the police gathered nearly forty personnel, according to the same source, including around fifteen from the RAID, eight from the PSIG (gendarmerie), those from the canine brigade and two BAC (anti-crime brigade) crews.
3 “No Miss”
“The hierarchy considered that it was not possible to expose the first personnel on site,” reports David Leveau, regional secretary of Unit-SGP Police. If it had been necessary to intervene without a heavy helmet, without a suitable bulletproof vest, without an assault rifle, it would have been carnage! » BAC crews are trained for first-time interventions on mass killings and equipped accordingly (shield, helmets and heavy bulletproof vests, assault rifle). “What could the two BAC crews present that evening, in Rennes, do in the face of around ten hooded individuals, armed with Kalashnikovs?,” asks the trade unionist. The attackers had heavy bulletproof vests. They were even marked to recognize each other and avoid any friendly fire between them! » Other voices, within the police themselves, are less affirmative and half-heartedly acknowledge that the situation “could have been handled differently”. “There was no mistake,” they say in high places.
4 “We have been warning for months, in vain”
The police unions have been denouncing, “for months, the lack of resources in Rennes”, which Unité Police-SGP and Unsa-Police estimate at “around a hundred personnel” (70 to 80 police officers in uniform and 20 to 30 investigators ). “We won’t last until the Olympics at this rate,” warns David Leveau. The unions are also demanding that all intervention personnel be trained and equipped to deal with this new type of situation.
In the immediate future, a “major security system for the neighborhood, reinforced throughout the week by a mobile force unit” is planned.
2024-03-11 21:50:09
#Shooting #Rennes #Sending #unequipped #police #officers #carnage
