A walk that turns to drama. A 25-year-old woman was killed by a stray bullet on Saturday February 19. The victim was walking with his companion when he was hit by the projectile fired during a beat on the territory of a town located near Aurillac (Cantal). A 17-year-old girl, suspected of being the author of the fatal shooting, was taken into custody on Sunday morning. An investigation is opened for “manslaughter”. Here’s what we know about this fatal hunting accident and the political reactions to it.
The victim was walking on a marked path
The young woman was hiking on Saturday afternoon with her companion on a marked trail, when a stray bullet mowed her down, according to information from France Bleu. The victim was hit “on the left side of the body”, according to the prosecutor of Aurillac. The emergency services did not manage to resuscitate her, relates France Bleu. She is dead “on the spot”said the prosecutor, at a place called La Bécarie in Cassaniouze.
A 17-year-old hunter is in custody
The accident occurred around 3 p.m., on the sidelines of a wild boar hunt organized by the approved communal hunting association of Cassaniouze, confirmed to The mountain its president, Jean-Pierre Boulanger. The beat had started in Aveyron and continued in neighboring Cantal, said the prosecution.
The alleged shooter is a 17-year-old hunter, according to the prosecutor. The girl, “shocked”was first “medical treatment”, added the magistrate. Transported to Aurillac hospital, she could not initially be heard by the police. The girl was finally taken into custody on Sunday morning. This was extended in the evening, according to the public prosecutor of Aurillac.
An investigation is opened for “manslaughter”
An investigation was opened on the count of “manslaughter”. The case was entrusted to the Aurillac research brigade, the prosecution reported. We already know that the young hunter has tested negative for narcotics and alcohol. In France, a minor can, from the age of 15, practice hunting in the presence and under the responsibility of an accompanying person, recalls the Public Service site.
Environmentalists call for ban on weekend hunting
In the middle of the presidential campaign, and while hunting and its accidents are regularly debated, the Secretary of State in charge of Biodiversity, Bérangère Abba, reacted on Twitter on Saturday evening, evoking a “unsustainable and unacceptable tragedy”, and promised that “the decisions will follow, so that never again”.
Today at #Cassaniouze (15) a young hiker died after being accidentally shot by a hunter. Unbearable and unacceptable tragedy.
The investigation is underway, the decisions will follow, so that never again.
To his family and loved ones, my deepest condolences— Berangere Abba (@b_abba) February 19, 2022
Several political figures, environmentalists in the lead, called on Sunday for a ban on hunting on weekends and school holidays. “We need more regulation of this activity, it is urgent”insisted on Saturday the candidate of Europe Ecology-The Greens Yannick Jadot on Twittersending its “thoughts” relatives of the victim.
“Hunting ban on weekends and school holidays, at least”, added Sandrine Rousseau, finalist in the environmental primary. “How many more deaths before we decide to regulate hunting, a dangerous and inhumane practice? At the very least, let’s ban hunting on weekends and school holidays now!” added David Belliard, EELV deputy to the mayor of Paris and socialist presidential candidate, Anne Hidalgo.
On the rebellious side of France too, it is estimated that hunting should be banned on weekends. “The tragedies are multiplying. The forest must belong to hikers, walkers. Five days a week are enough to go hunting. We should no longer go to the forest with fear in our stomachs”said MEP Manon Aubry on Sunday on RMC.
“One accident is one too many. For twenty years, every ten years, the number of victims has been halved. We must continue: the goal is zero victims”reacted for his part Laurent Jacobelli, spokesperson for the National Rally, on franceinfo. “Measures must be taken in consultation with the hunters”he insisted.
A reminder of the rules is issued to hunters
For his part, the president of the National Federation of Hunters (FNC), Willy Schraen, after presenting “to the family of this young woman and her loved ones [ses] deepest condolences”called for “take the measure of the drama”. “Without waiting for the results of the investigation, I want to tell you that nothing can justify, even accidentally, the death of a person”he wrote on Saturday on his Facebook page.
He clarified that the FNC services had immediately started to contact all the federations of hunters, “so that each hunt organizer is reminded of all the safety rules specific to any hunting practice”. He also pledged to ask the president of the Alliance des sports et loisirs de nature to bring together all the nature federations from the beginning of next week to recall the safety measures on which they have been working together for more than two years.
Fatal hunting accidents are fewer and fewer
For twenty years, the number of hunting accidents has dropped significantly in France: -41% since 1999, according to the French Office for Biodiversity. The number of accidents fell from 232 per year to 136 over the period. The trend is even clearer for fatal accidents, down 71% over twenty years: from 39 in the 1999-2000 hunting season to 11 in 2019-2020. On average, 90% of the victims of these accidents are hunters.
Hunting in France is an exception in Europe
France is the European country with the most hunters, ahead of Spain and Italy, with 1.2 million active hunters, out of some four million with a permit. France is also the only European country allowing hunting every day during the season, while the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands and Portugal have introduced one or more non-hunting days. A petition calling for a ban on hunting on Wednesdays and Sundays had collected more than 120,000 signatures last fall and prompted the Senate to create a commission on security.