11-year-old killed by narcos – then the neighborhood breaks down their houses Monster strike in France begins – 5 questions and answers

That happened

Last Sunday there was a shooting in the Los Pumitas neighborhood in the north of the Argentine city of Rosario. 11-year-old Máximo Jerez was hit and three other children were injured. According to the Argentinian newspaper “Perfil”, Máximo stood with the other children in front of his family’s house during a birthday party.

Then suddenly a man opened fire on a group of people in the street. Máximo was hit in the back by a bullet and died from the effects of the shot. Two 13-year-old and two-year-old girls were also hit, but survived the attack.

Relatives and neighbors resort to vigilance

After the family and neighborhood held a vigil for the 11-year-old, the situation escalated. The angry group moved to the house of the suspected gunman – according to “Perfil”, the man is the leader of a drug ring called “Los Salteños”. They began throwing stones at the house and set fire to the man’s motorcycle – he responded by defending himself with a gun from the patio.

That didn’t stop the angry mob from attacking the man’s house – until they tore it down with sledgehammers and steel bars. The act of destruction was greeted with applause from the neighbourhood. The residents then went looking for other houses that they assumed also belonged to the drug gang.

They did not stop at vandalism, but simply looted the buildings. According to the newspaper “Perfil”, they not only removed refrigerators and toilets, but also took the drug dealers’ pets. Police then ended the protests by firing rubber bullets at the people.

The reaction of the authorities

According to the newspaper “El Capital”, four minors were murdered in Rosario in 2023, and last year there were 33 cases, 26 of which were related to drug-related crime. The responsible prosecutor Adrian Spelta said that with Máximo’s death “all boundaries were crossed”. The presence of children has always been a common thread for members of drug gangs to avoid shooting at enemies. But now that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore.

Police arrested both the gunman and three suspected gang members after the boy’s murder. According to prosecutor Spelta, the arrestees are known to the police and investigations into drug offenses are already underway.

The situation in Rosario

Rosario, the birthplace of Lionel Messi, has long been plagued by a huge wave of violence. Several drug gangs vie for control of the city northwest of Buenos Aires. A total of 64 people have already died in Rosario this year. Again and again, members of the drug gangs attack public buildings, prisons and police stations. Last week, unidentified gunmen fired 14 shots into Messi’s father-in-law’s supermarket, leaving a note that read, “Messi, we are waiting for you.”

According to “Perfil”, there are an average of ten shootings per day in the city of nearly one million people. According to statistics, the number of drug-related homicides has increased significantly over the past three years.

An aunt of the murdered 11-year-old Máximo explained that the neighborhood in her neighborhood was “devastated by the drug trade”: “We are so tired of being robbed, the neighborhood is mourning, we are all so angry. The only thing I The question is that justice be done. Everyone here knows who sells the drugs and takes over the houses.” (con/sda/dpa)