“The custody was lifted without prosecution. This person is not considered to be involved in the murder as such,” said the magistrate, without giving further details on the continuation of the investigation. The shooter and his accomplice fled and are still actively sought.
A well-known drug trafficking point
Called on a well-known drug trafficking point in Avignon, the police from the Vaucluse-Gard departmental intervention brigade, in civilian clothes, found the street “perfectly calm”. Police officer Eric Masson and his colleagues had, however, decided to monitor the point of sale.
It was after having followed with a colleague the client “of what looked like an exchange of narcotics” in a neighboring street that Brigadier Masson was going to be killed, the prosecutor said Thursday at a press conference.
As the woman had just been arrested by the two police officers, “two individuals were advancing (…) and one of them, carrying a satchel, (asked) them what they were doing there,” explained Mr. Guémas: “Eric Masson declined his status as a police officer and the individual pulled out a handgun and fired twice, hitting him in the chest and abdomen.”
A rally in tribute to the killed policeman is scheduled for Sunday in Avignon at the call of several police unions.
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