Drôme: What do we know about the death of Nicolas, shot dead in front of a nightclub ?

Shots were fired on Halloween night in the queue of a nightclub in the Drôme. Several people were injured and a young man died. He was part of the same rugby club as Thomas, killed in Crépol a year ago.

The tragedy is repeating itself for the Rugby Club Romans-Péage (RCRP). A shooting occurred during the night of Thursday October 31 to Friday November 1 in front of the nightclub Le Seven, in Saint-Péray, in the suburbs of Valence (Dréme). Several people were injured and Nicolas, a 22-year-old, died from a gunshot wound to the head, according to information from BFMTV. He was part of the same rugby club as Thomas, who died in Crépol last year.

The shots were fired around 2:30 a.m. People at the scene initially thought it was a staged Halloween event, but the bullets were real. People still outside the establishment crawled to the inside to protect themselves.

Two wounded and one dead

Three people were injured in the shooting. There was a young woman, whose leg was hit, as well as one of the bouncers of the nightclub. Finally, Nicolas, 22, was seriously injured in the head. According to the deputy prosecutor, Charlotte Cerna, he was taken to the hospital in Valencia and was “declared died Saturday”.

The RCRP is in mourning again. “The club has been hit hard again since Thursday night. Nicolas, Kolbe, Nico, the princess or so many other nicknames has just left us in terrible circumstances. We are devastated again and send our most sincere condolences to his family and his relatives”, we can read on the club's Facebook page.

The shooting could be linked to drug trafficking

An investigation has been opened by the Privas public prosecutor's office in Ardèche. It has been entrusted to the Organized and Specialized Crime Division (DCOS) to shed light on the circumstances that led to this tragedy. The perpetrator is said to be a man dressed in black wearing a balaclava and linked to drug trafficking. Nicolas is said to have no connection with this trafficking and was “most certainly there in the wrong place and at the wrong time”, believes the LR mayor of Romans-sur-Isère, where Nicolas lived, on BFMTV. On X, Bruno Retailleau, the Minister of the Interior, estimated that “the fight we must wage requires legislative rearmament and determination from all and every moment”.