French School Builds Concrete Wall to Protect Students From Shootings

The French city of Arles near Marseille has constructed a concrete block wall outside of a local school in an effort to protect students from stray gunfire after a 15-year-old was fatally shot last month.

The wall, which is being built nearly eight feet tall, is being erected at the Jules-Valles elementary school, in the Griffeuille district of Arles and is intended to replace the former barrier, an iron gate, to better protect students from possible shootings.

Mandy Graillon, deputy mayor of Arles in charge of security, explained that the wall was being put up due to the school’s proximity to nearby drug dealing.

“The proximity of the traffic, which unfortunately takes place very close to this school, means that the fact of making this wall serves to preserve it and say that what happens in this school, remains in this school,” Graillon told broadcaster BFMTV.

“For me, it is work that should have been done a long time ago, because we know the context of these neighbourhoods, and a schoolyard must be preserved. Today it is also the purpose of this wall, that anyone, when there are problems in the neighbourhood can not just step over a fence and enter the courtyard,” Graillon added.

The building of the wall comes just weeks after a 15-year-old boy was fatally shot in Griffeuille, which according to broadcaster Franceinfo, is well-known for its problems with drug trafficking.

The shooting took place on a Sunday evening last month at around 10 pm and saw suspects shoot from a vehicle and strike the 15-year-old victim several times. the teen later died after being rushed to a nearby hospital.

Following the fatal shooting, the mayor of Arles, Patrick de Carolis, declared three days of mourning for the teen and released a statement saying, “We are shocked by the violence of the facts. These settling of scores, these shootings, are no longer reserved for large cities.”

Nearby Marseille is far more well-known for shooting incidents, many of which are also related to drug trafficking in the city and the settling of scores between criminals.

Earlier this year in May, a nursery in the city’s 15th district was forced to close after Kalashnikov gunfire broke out in the vicinity, scaring many of the young children who were present at the nursery at the time.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.