The investigation will still have to clarify «the role of each» in this crime and in particular to determine which of these two young people aged 17 and 18 fired on the victim, underlined the public prosecutor of Colmar, Catherine Sorita- Minard. «This point has not yet been clarified,» she insisted.
«It’s true that we can’t be two to shoot with a pistol», agreed the magistrate but in the immediate future, according to her, the examining magistrate considered that their responsibility was «very close» and that «the action was truly common in intent and accomplishment».
During his police custody, the young adult did not reveal «who had delivered the lethal blow», while the minor remained silent, she further detailed.
The two young people are also indicted for violations of the legislation on weapons, «in this case an automatic pistol», said Catherine Sorita-Minard. Here too the investigation will have to seek «the origin of the weapon» which has not been found and if «other people are involved», the magistrate deploring «the omerta» which «presides» according to her in » this environment».
The two young alleged perpetrators, who know each other, lived in Colmar and had already been imprisoned by decision of the juvenile court, after being «heavily sentenced» for various acts of delinquency, in particular damage and offenses against the narcotics legislation. .
On the run for almost ten days, – «probably (because they) were well aware of having committed serious acts», according to Catherine Sorita-Minard -, their run had ended with their arrest Tuesday in the middle of the day in Sarcelles (Val-d’Oise) for the first and the following night, in Colmar and a few hundred meters from the crime scene, for the second.
On Sunday August 14, Abdul Quayyeem Ahmadzai, a 27-year-old Afghan refugee, in France since 2017, came to visit friends in the Europe district of Colmar, classified last year as a republican reconquest district (QRR).
The victim, who worked at the car manufacturer Stellantis in Mulhouse, and his Afghan friends were gathered at the bottom of a building when they were bothered by the «noisy use» of scooters.
Without explicitly mentioning an urban rodeo initially mentioned by a police source, the prosecutor of Colmar however indicated that «one of the indicted admits having done lifting with his scooter in the sector, shortly before facts».
«Future investigations, in particular the use of available videos and the hearing of witnesses, will make it possible to clarify this last point», she specified.
A «dispute» then broke out between the Afghans and the group on the scooter before a single shot was fired. Abdul Quayyeem Ahmadzaia, who, according to his relatives, left behind four children and his wife in Afghanistan, was shot in the chest. A «straight shot», «in front», detailed the magistrate, questioned on the intentionality of this shot.
The Afghan boy died of his injuries in hospital the following night and his body has since been flown back to Afghanistan.
Did the group of Afghans bother by its presence of dealers in this district known for its deal points and drug trafficking? Ms. Sorita-Minard said «not having certainties at this stage» on this point.
The adult incurs life imprisonment while, for the minor, the maximum sentence may not exceed 30 years.