On Friday night, a shooting in the Les Moulins neighborhood in the city of Nice, in southeastern France, left at least two people dead and five injured, two of them seriously, according to an official statement from the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department released on the social network X.
Although authorities initially linked the attack to drug trafficking, new lines of investigation do not rule out the possibility of an Islamist-motivated attack.
The shooting occurred in an area already known for social tensions, drug trafficking, and the presence of organized criminal networks. However, sources close to the investigation have indicated that the violence, the coordinated manner of the attack, and the use of automatic weapons could point to a more ideological motivation.
For now, no hypothesis is being ruled out, and the Nice Prosecutor's Office has opened an investigation for murder and attempted murder by an organized group, also leaving open the possibility of a terrorist act.
Law enforcement and firefighters immediately arrived at the scene, securing the perimeter. The prefect of Alpes-Maritimes, Laurent Hottiaux, went to the area and condemned the attack, describing it as an "atrocious act," while announcing the deployment of additional security forces starting Saturday by order of the Ministry of the Interior.
These reinforcements will remain in the neighborhood "as long as necessary" to restore calm and prevent further violent actions.
Meanwhile, the mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, stated on X that he was at the scene with neighborhood residents and described the situation as "tense and chaotic."
El alcalde de Niza expresó su intranquilidad por la situación y la posibilidad de un ataque yihadista
He initially mentioned that the shooting was related to a "raid linked to narco-banditry," but he also expressed concern about the Islamist and extremist ideological context that has affected the city in the past. It is worth recalling that Nice has previously been the scene of Islamist attacks, such as the 2016 truck attack that left 86 dead.
Local and national media have begun to speculate about a possible Islamist motivation, especially considering the history of radicalization in certain sectors of the Les Moulins neighborhood and the existence of known extremist cells in the region. Intelligence authorities are working with the judicial police to determine whether any of the strikers had a history of radicalization or links to jihadist groups.
