Home of French mayor ram-raided and torched by rioters

"People ram-raided my home before starting a fire to torch my house, where my wife and my two young children were sleeping," Mayor Vincent Jeanbrun said.

 Police officers detain demonstrators during protests following the death of Nahel, a 17-year-old teenager killed by a French police officer in Nanterre during a traffic stop, in Paris, France, July 2, 2023. (photo credit: REUTERS)
Police officers detain demonstrators during protests following the death of Nahel, a 17-year-old teenager killed by a French police officer in Nanterre during a traffic stop, in Paris, France, July 2, 2023.
(photo credit: REUTERS)

The home of a Paris suburb mayor was ram-raided and set alight while his wife and children were asleep inside during the unrest that has gripped the country following Tuesday's shooting of a teenager by a police officer, the official said on Sunday.

Vincent Jeanbrun, mayor of the southern suburb of L'Hay-les-Roses, said his wife and one of their two children, aged five and seven, were injured as they fled the building in the early hours.

Jeanbrun, from the conservative Les Republicains party, was not at home but at the town hall during the incident. The town hall has been the target of attack for several nights since the shooting and has been protected with barbed wire and barricades.

Mayor Jeanbrun's account

"At 01:30 a.m., as I was in the town hall just like the two previous nights, people ram-raided my home before starting a fire to torch my house, where my wife and my two young children were sleeping," Jeanbrun said on his Twitter account.

"While attempting to shield them and fleeing the attackers, my wife and one of my children got hurt."

  L'Hay-les-Roses Mayor Vincent Jeanbrun (credit: Wikimedia Commons)
L'Hay-les-Roses Mayor Vincent Jeanbrun (credit: Wikimedia Commons)

The local prosecutor told reporters that an investigation into attempted murder had been opened. No suspects have been arrested.

The prosecutor said the woman was injured as she fled through the backyard of the house.