Saint-Cyr-l'École: one-year-old injured by firework mortar during secondary school demonstrations
A one-year-old baby was hit by a firework mortar fired at ground level on Tuesday morning. A 16-year-old secondary school student was taken into police custody.
Incident at the edges of a secondary school in Yvelines
A one-year-old infant was injured on Tuesday morning by firework mortar fire at the edge of a secondary school in Saint-Cyr-l'École, Yvelines, according to Actu17. The child, who was in his pram with his parents, suffered from tinnitus as a result of the explosion and was hospitalised. His life is not in danger.
The incident occurred around 9 o'clock, on a square situated between Mansart secondary school and Jean-Perrin vocational secondary school, in the immediate vicinity of a shop. The mortar was fired at ground level, directly towards the family group. A video of the scene was recorded by a witness.
Swift identification of the suspect
After the shot, around ten masked youths dispersed into the streets. Police were able to rely on the precise description provided by the child's father. The group included two young women, one of whom was wearing a green top and is suspected of lighting the fuse.
Officers searched the streets of the municipality in search of those responsible. Two youths who were part of a gathering fled as police approached. Police caught up with one of them, whose appearance matched the description given by witnesses. This 16-year-old secondary school student was carrying a balaclava and physiological saline. She was taken into police custody for "violence involving the use or threat of a weapon followed by incapacity not exceeding eight days". The Versailles public prosecutor's office has opened an investigation.
Growing tensions during the mobilisation
These acts of violence are part of a context of secondary school mobilisation marked for several days by blockades, rubbish bin fires and firework mortar fire in front of several educational establishments. Sonia Brau, UDI mayor of Saint-Cyr-l'École, emphasised that the mortar had been directed "at ground level, therefore at pram height".
The municipality has deployed municipal police officers and a security deputy daily in the district since the start of the mobilisation. Schoolbags are searched every day around the educational establishments and numerous mortars are confiscated there. Authorities have even closed the cemetery situated opposite Mansart secondary school to prevent youths from retrieving rubbish bins there.
National overview of the mobilisation
According to the Interior Ministry, 6,547 people have been arrested since the start of the secondary school mobilisation, including 488 on Tuesday alone. More than 700 police officers and gendarmes were injured during the incidents.
Source: Actu17