2015 Roye shooting

{{Infobox civilian attack

| title = 2015 Roye shooting

| location = Roye, Somme, Picardy, France

| date = 25 August 2015

| map = {{Location map| France Picardy # France

|float = center

|label = Roye

|marksize = 8

| lat_deg = 49 | lat_min = 41

| lon_deg = 2 | lon_min = 47

}}

| native_name = Fusillade de Roye

| native_name_lang = fr

| coordinates = {{coord|49.6981|2.7924|type:event_region:FR-HDF|display=it}}

| time = 4:30 p.m.

| timezone = UTC+2

| type = Mass shooting

| weapon = 12mm Beretta hunting rifle

| fatalities = 4

| injuries = 2

| perpetrator = Marcel Ruffet

| motive = Antiziganism, personal dispute

| convictions = *Murder

Attempted murder

}}

The 2015 Roye shooting took place at 4.30 pm in a Roma camp in Roye (Somme, Picardy, France) on Tuesday, 25 August 2015 and saw the death of 4 people; a gendarme and three people from the same family, in addition to the serious wounding of a three-year-old child. The perpetrator, 73-year-old Marcel Ruffet, was shot and injured by the police as they carried out an arrest, and was later sentenced to 30 years imprisonment for multiple counts of murder and attempted murder. Ruffet expressed no regret for committing the shooting, citing hatred of Romanis.

Shooting

At 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 August 2015, Marcel Ruffet, a 73-year-old, opened fire in a Roma camp in Roye, killing three (a six-month-old baby, his mother and his father), and also seriously wounding a three-year-old child.{{Cite news |last1=Gander |first1=Kashmira |date=2015-08-25 |title=Roye shooting: Four dead at traveller camp in France |language=en-GB |newspaper=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/at-least-four-dead-after-shooting-at-traveller-camp-in-roye-france-10471562.html |url-status=live |accessdate=2017-01-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150825203820/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/at-least-four-dead-after-shooting-at-traveller-camp-in-roye-france-10471562.html |archive-date=2015-08-25}}{{Cite news |last=Collet |first=Adeline |date=2019-07-19 |title=Quatre ans après la fusillade, Roye veut fermer l’aire d’accueil des gens du voyage |language=fr-FR |trans-title=Four years after the shooting, Roye wants to close its reception place for travellers |work=Courrier picard |url=https://www.courrier-picard.fr/id25892/article/2019-07-19/quatre-ans-apres-la-fusillade-roye-veut-fermer-laire-daccueil-des-gens-du-voyage |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=2023-11-05 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20231105221938/https://www.courrier-picard.fr/id25892/article/2019-07-19/quatre-ans-apres-la-fusillade-roye-veut-fermer-laire-daccueil-des-gens-du-voyage |archive-date=2023-11-05}} According to ballistics experts, he entered the caravan and shot at the children from a distance of less than three meters, shooting the baby in its cot.{{Cite news |date=2016-06-26 |title=JUSTICE Le tireur de Roye n’a pas de regrets |language=fr-FR |trans-title=JUSTICE Roye shooter has no regrets |work=Courrier picard |url=https://www.courrier-picard.fr/art/region/le-tireur-de-roye-n-a-pas-de-regrets-ia0b0n804717 |access-date=2023-11-05}}

The gendarmerie were dispactched in response to the shooting, and Ruffet returned fire. One of the gendarmerie, Laurent Pruvot, was shot and died instantly.{{Cite news |last=Cambier |first=Claire |date=2017-05-04 |title=Fusillade de Roye : le meurtrier écope de 30 ans de réclusion |language=fr |trans-title=Roye shooting: murderer sentenced to 30 years' imprisonment |work=TF1 |url=https://www.tf1info.fr/justice-faits-divers/somme-fusillade-de-roye-deux-ans-apres-le-meurtrier-ecope-de-30-ans-de-reclusion-2050937.html |access-date=2023-11-05}} Another officer was wounded. Police shot and injured Ruffet as they carried out his arrest.{{Cite news |last=Solano |first=Thibaut |date=2022-10-29 |title=Jean-Luc Ployé, expert psychologue : les mystères du passage à l’acte criminel |language=fr-FR |trans-title=Jean-Luc Ployé, expert psychologist: the mystery of committing criminal acts |work=Marianne |url=https://www.marianne.net/societe/police-et-justice/jean-luc-ploye-expert-psychologue-les-mysteres-du-passage-a-lacte-criminel |access-date=2023-11-05}} He was drunk at the time of the shooting. Those injured were all taken to the Amiens University Hospital by helicopter.{{Cite news |last=Harau |first=Juliette |date=2015-08-25 |title=Fusillade de Roye : à l'hôpital d'Amiens, Cazeneuve dénonce « la violence dans sa forme la plus barbare » |language=fr-FR |trans-title=Roye shooting: at Amiens hospital, Cazeneuve denounces "violence in its most barbaric form" |work=France 3 |url=https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/hauts-de-france/picardie/somme/fusillade-roye-hopital-amiens-cazeneuve-denonce-violence-sa-forme-plus-barbare-793377.html |access-date=2023-11-05}}

Ruffet was an alcoholic whose family had left him due to his aggression.{{Cite report |url=https://vlaamsvredesinstituut.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Report_Armed_to_kill_web.pdf |title=Armed to Kill: A comprehensive analysis of the guns used in public mass shootings in Europe between 2009 and 2018 |last=Duquet |first=Nils |last2=Kbiltsetskhlashvili |first2=Nino |date=2019-10-03 |publisher=Vlaams Vredesinstituut |page=42 |language=en |last3=Khan |first3=Isthiaq |last4=Woods |first4=Eric |work=Flemish Peace Institute}} A semi-automatic Beretta 12mm hunting rifle was used in the shooting. It is unknown how the weapon was obtained.

Aftermath

Bernard Cazeneuve, then Minister of the Interior of France, denounced the shooting as "violence in its most barbaric form".

Ruffet was charged 28 August with murder and attempted murder. He was transferred to a prison where he continued to receive medical treatment for his injuries.{{Cite news |date=2015-08-28 |title=Fusillade de Roye : l’auteur présumé mis en examen |language=fr-FR |trans-title=Roye shooting: suspected perpetrator under investigation |work=Le Monde |agency=Agence France-Presse |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/police-justice/article/2015/08/28/fusillade-de-roye-l-auteur-presume-mis-en-examen_4739453_1653578.html |access-date=2023-11-05}} He declined to speak when he appeared before the magistrate and initially refused to be assisted by a lawyer.

Ruffet was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment for multiple counts of murder and attempted murder.{{Cite news |last=Turpin |first=Eric |date=2017-05-04 |title=Fusillade de Roye : Marcel Ruffet est condamné à 30 ans de réclusion criminelle |language=fr-FR |trans-title=Roye shooting: Marcel Ruffet sentenced to 30 years imprisonment |work=France Bleu |url=https://www.francebleu.fr/infos/faits-divers-justice/fusillade-de-roye-marcel-ruffet-est-condamne-30-ans-de-reclusion-criminelle-1493918675 |access-date=2023-11-05}} He expressed no regret for committing the shooting, citing hatred of Romanis, though he did express regret at the killing of the gendarme.{{Cite news |date=2017-04-25 |title=Tuerie en Picardie: l'ex-forain pétri de haine pour les gens du voyage |language=fr-FR |trans-title=Killing in Picardy: the ex-showman filled with hatred for travellers |work=Le Point |agency=AFP |url=https://www.lepoint.fr/societe/tuerie-dans-un-camp-de-gens-du-voyage-le-tireur-presume-aux-assises-25-04-2017-2122377_23.php |access-date=2023-11-05}}{{Cite news |last=Touchais |first=Elodie |date=2017-04-26 |title=La folie meurtrière de Marcel Ruffet au coeur des Assises de la Somme |language=fr-FR |trans-title=Marcel Ruffet's murderous madness at the heart of the court of the Somme |work=France Bleu |url=https://www.francebleu.fr/infos/faits-divers-justice/la-folie-meurtriere-de-marcel-ruffet-au-coeur-des-assises-de-la-somme-1493236018 |access-date=2023-11-05}}{{Cite news |last=Turpin |first=Eric |date=2017-04-26 |title=Fusillade de Roye : Marcel Ruffet regrette d'avoir tué un gendarme |trans-title=Roye shooting: Marcel Ruffet regrets killing a gendarme |url=https://www.francebleu.fr/infos/faits-divers-justice/fusillade-de-roye-marcel-ruffet-regrette-d-avoir-tue-un-gendarme-1493213089 |access-date=2023-11-05 |work=France Bleu |language=fr-FR}} In court, Ruffet insulted the families of his victims, saying that he wished he had shot more.

A few days after the shooting, protestors blocked a freeway over whether one of the sons of the victims, who was in prison, would be allowed to attend the funeral. The protestors were each sentenced to between four and 16 months in prison in February 2016.{{Cite news |last1=Egré |first=Pascale |date=2017-04-24 |title=Fusillade de Roye en 2015 : le procès d’une haine meurtrière |language=fr-FR |trans-title=2015 Roye shooting: the trial of a murderous hatred |work=Le Parisien |url=https://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/fusillade-de-roye-en-2015-le-proces-d-une-haine-meurtriere-24-04-2017-6885771.php |access-date=2023-11-05}}

The traveller camp was abandoned after the shooting. In 2019, Roye community delegates voted to shutter the site and construct a new area. The current area would be replaced by a police dog training facility.

2015 Roye shooting

Shooting

Aftermath

References

Further reading