Massive shootout sparks battle between 'up to 600 people' in France

A massive shootout linked to drug trafficking has left a teenager and four others, including two teenage girls, seriously wounded in western France, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said on Friday, in the latest such gunfight to injure children.

The shootout erupted in front of a Poitiers restaurant, reportedly the 'L'Othentik' kebab shop, overnight after shots were 'fired from a passing car injuring a number of people', the minister said. 

French police told Le Figaro that 'at least 12' bullet holes, believed to have been 22-calibre rounds, were seen on the facade of the restaurant, while weapons were found at the scene. 

'What started as a shooting at a restaurant ended up in a fight between rival gangs that involved several hundred people', Retailleau said.

Cops said that between 400 and 600 people were involved in the violence that escalated in the aftermath of the shootout, which reportedly came 'against a backdrop of tensions between the Maghreb and Guadeloupean communities.'

The 15-year-old boy who was shot in the head was between life and death, he said.

French newspaper Le Parisien reported that the boy's family has been informed that he was left in a state of 'brain death', after he was rushed to the nearby Poitiers University Hospital. 

The newspaper also reported that the other four injured, three 16-year-olds and another 15-year-old, were also rushed to hospital after they suffered shots to the shoulder, head, ankle and feet, though they are in a less serious condition. 

Cops were 'set upon' by '80 to 100' people in the crowd, and were forced to arrest dozens to restore calm by around 2:30am.  

Police in the city said they were sending reinforcements to calm tensions.  

The minister warned that the country was at a 'tipping point' when it came to drug trafficking violence.  

'These shootings are not happening in South America, they are happening in Rennes, in Poitiers, in this part of western France once known for its tranquility', he starkly said. 

'We are at a tipping point and the choice we have today is a choice between general mobilisation or the Mexicanisation of the country,' he said, citing Mexico's deep problem with cartel violence. 

Léonore Moncond'huy, the mayor of Poitiers, said the incident was 'a new episode of violence unacceptable for the neighbourhood'.

'The youth of the victims and those involved is particularly striking and worrying. I wish a speedy recovery to the injured, and I call on everyone's responsibility to maintain peace in the city', she added. 

'The City of Poitiers salutes the security forces for their intervention and their upcoming reinforced presence. She also welcomes the mobilization of the Maison de district des Couronneries.

'The City calls for the investigation to clarify the precise circumstances of the event as quickly as possible, and to allow the identification and arrest of the perpetrators.'

Retailleau added that he was planning to travel later in the day to the northwestern city of Rennes, where a five-year-old child was also between life and death after being shot on Saturday in another fire exchange related to drug trafficking.

The drug trade in France has long centred in major cities such as Marseille, where at least 17 drug-related killings have been reported since the start of the year.

But the problem is increasingly moving out to other cities and towns around France, including to areas normally associated with tourism.