Trappes attack: victim's family demands accountability over surveillance of suspect
The family of Pengo Bossio Wangi, a 26-year-old killed during Friday's attack in the Yvelines, is demanding explanations over the failure to issue a preventive warning about the suspected gunman and has not ruled out pursuing administrative action against the State.
Administrative inquiry demanded after Yvelines attack
According to Actu17, the family of Pengo Bossio Wangi, a 26-year-old MMA fighter killed Friday in Trappes and La Verrière, is demanding answers about the surveillance of the suspected perpetrator of the shootings. His lawyer, Me Yassine Bouzrou, states in a statement that the deceased's relatives are requesting the communication of all information relating to the monitoring of the attacker and are not ruling out pursuing the State's administrative responsibility should an established failure be found.
Pengo Bossio Wangi was fatally wounded in square Louis Pergaud in Trappes during an attack in which the attacker, aged 39, opened fire with an automatic weapon at six different sites. Five other people were injured, including a 12-year-old girl who remained in a serious condition on Saturday. Police discovered a Sten-type submachine gun in the suspected gunman's car when he was arrested.
The family's lawyer emphasises that "the suspected perpetrator possessed military-grade weapons and was already known to the police and justice services". The attacker's criminal record shows four convictions that have been automatically set aside, according to the national counter-terrorism prosecutor's office. Me Bouzrou questions the circumstances in which this individual was subject to no preventive alert, despite his weaponry and profile that should have attracted the attention of the competent services.
Radicalisation pathway questioned
The victim's relatives are also demanding that the investigation establish exhaustively the suspect's path to radicalisation and the ideological sources to which he was exposed. The family stresses that the racist theses of the "great replacement" and statements stigmatising populations have been disseminated for several years in certain media and political spheres. This context should, according to them, be documented and evaluated as part of the proceedings.
The suspected gunman's flat was rigged with three gas bottles connected to a timer, the PNAT specified Friday evening. Born on 12 September 2000 in Poissy, Pengo Bossio Wangi grew up in the Yvelines, where he had been educated at Gustave Courbet secondary school in Trappes. He practised MMA as an amateur at the Atch Academy in Aubervilliers, a hall with a renowned reputation in France, where he had seven fights for three victories and four defeats.
Tributes and ongoing investigation
His MMA club paid tribute to an athlete "present, respectful, always ready to push others forward". Stéphane Chaufourier, owner of the Atch Academy, told L'Équipe: "He was really a very good guy". Agathon Ebessa, who faced him twice in 2024, kept the memory of "a good guy, a true rival". A silent march took place Sunday morning at 10 o'clock from Aubervilliers town hall to pay tribute to the fighter.
The national counter-terrorism prosecutor's office opened an investigation on charges including murder and attempted murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise, with the circumstance that the facts would have been committed on account of the actual or alleged membership of the victims to a purported race, ethnicity, nation or specific religion. The custody of the 39-year-old man, which can last up to 96 hours, was extended Saturday morning. A blood test intended to determine the toxicological level of the attacker's blood was still underway. Three custody measures were taken against members of his family and social circle.
Source: Actu17