Following the murder of Lilian Dejean, the municipal agent shot dead in Grenoble, the suspect targeted by a European arrest warrant

A European arrest warrant has been issued for the man suspected of having Lilian Dejean, a municipal employee, shot dead on September 8in Grenoble, the public prosecutor’s office announced on Monday, September 16. The warrant was issued on Friday, said the prosecutor, Eric Vaillant, specifying that it was“a guarantee” in the event of flight abroad.

Lilian Dejean, a 49-year-old father, was shot in the chest early on September 8 as he tried to stop a man who had caused a traffic accident at the wheel of a powerful rental car registered in Poland from fleeing. The municipal employee died shortly afterwards in hospital. The death of Lilian Dejean has caused immense emotion among his colleagues and the inhabitants of Grenoble. His remains were handed over to his family this week by investigators and are expected to be buried on Wednesday in Guadeloupe. The driver of the vehicle hit by the suspect in the accident, an elderly woman, was slightly injured. A white march gathered a thousand people on Sunday.

As for the alleged murderer, aged 25, whose ID was found in the wrecked car that he abandoned at the scene, he has been wanted for a week. The police have carried out several searches, including where he lived, in Saint-Martin-d’Hères, in the suburbs of Grenoble. No one has been taken into custody, according to the prosecution. A judicial investigation has been opened for “murder of a person charged with a public service mission”, “unintentional injury” “aggravated by speed and hit and run”, and “possession of category B weapons”.

The suspect is known to the courts, in particular for “theft, violence and drug trafficking”, and for having beaten up, with five fellow inmates, another prisoner at the Varces remand center (Isère) in June 2023. Tried in August 2023 for this violence, he was sentenced to a four-month prison term with a ban on owning a weapon for five years. A week after his return to prison, he was involved in new violence for which he was due to be tried on October 3.

The tragedy occurred in a context of tensions in the Alpine metropolis, after a summer marked by numerous incidents of violence and shootings between drug traffickers. At least eighteen episodes of gun violence have been recorded in the territory since the beginning of the year, and the authorities no longer hesitate to speak of “gang war”.