what we know about the nine arrests including that of the main suspect

Seven people were arrested in Toulouse and two others in Romans-sur-Isère, three days after the death of young Thomas during a community festival organized in Crépol in Drôme.

The investigation is accelerating. Three days after the death of young Thomas, killed in the night from Saturday to Sunday during a community festival in Crépol (Drôme), no fewer than nine people were arrested this Tuesday, November 21.

According to information provided by the prosecution, during the night from Saturday to Sunday, around ten young people tried to enter the village hall where a registration ball was being held. One of them stabbed a security guard who tried to block him. A “brawl” outside between the young people and participants in this evening then took place. Four people were injured, three of them seriously, including Thomas, who died of his injuries.

The main suspect among those arrested

A blatant investigation into murder and attempted murder had been opened. The prosecution, however, decided to broaden the framework of the investigation by retaining an aggravating circumstance of an organized gang, because the individuals who confronted the people of the evening were presented in some of the first testimonies as a group knowing each other, their arrival seeming to be a scheduled shipment.

Exploitation of video surveillance, nearly a hundred hearings, cross-checking of several tens of thousands of activations of telephone relays… This expansion of the investigation allowed investigators to have broader means and investigative techniques at their disposal to find the perpetrators on the run.

A 20-year-old individual of French nationality was formally named as the perpetrator of the fatal stabbing of young Thomas.

Arrests in Toulouse

Other suspects were subsequently identified and investigators discovered that they seemed to want to leave their home. Very close monitoring is then put in place.

This Tuesday morning, the main suspect left Romans-sur-Isère in a vehicle with seven other people. They were spotted and monitored in Toulouse. While they seemed ready to move again, the police arrested them without incident.

Police custody lasting up to 96 hours

At the same time, two other suspects were also arrested late in the afternoon in the Romans-sur-Isère area. Due to the reclassification of the investigation with the aggravating circumstance of organized gang, the custody of the nine suspects can last up to 96 hours. However, investigators remain mobilized to identify and arrest all suspects, according to the prosecution.