A 15-year-old minor, cousin of one of the two indicted for “assassination” in the fatal attack on Philippe Coopman on April 16 in Grande-Synthe (North), was placed in police custody on Monday April 22 , announced Dunkirk prosecutor Charlotte Huet to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The person arrested was attacked during the night from Friday to Saturday in the same town. “There will be no further communication until the end of police custody in order to preserve the serenity and confidentiality of the investigation,” said Ms. Huet. “We will feel relief when we know that everyone has been arrested,” responded Kelvyn Coopman, Philippe’s big brother, to AFP. “We don’t know if there were three, four, five, six… We have to dismantle this whole group of savages and make them talk. »
Two minors, aged 14 and 15, have already been indicted and placed in pre-trial detention on Friday for the assassination of Philippe Coopman, a 22-year-old young man, who died on Tuesday following blows to the head, a death which caused great emotion. There are, at this stage of the investigation, reasons to believe that this is a “murder aggravated by the circumstance of ambush”, Charlotte Huet explained at a press conference on Friday.
The two indicted, one from Grande-Synthe and the other from Dunkirk, claimed in police custody to have “arranged a meeting” with the victim in a parking lot near a convenience store. To do this, they used “a dating website called Cocoland, posing as an underage girl”, considering it “reprehensible” to respond to such an ad, the prosecutor informed the prosecutor on Friday. “It’s their version,” she insisted, emphasizing that “effects were stolen” during the attack, which could also constitute their motive.
Funerals held on Wednesday
A witness indicated shortly after the events that Philippe Coopman had been attacked by three people while he was on the phone, according to a police source. They allegedly stole his device before fleeing, this source reported. “Other suspects” are being sought, the prosecutor emphasized on Friday at a press conference.
The teenager arrested on Monday, aged 15, was attacked during the night from Friday to Saturday. He suffers from injuries leading to total incapacity for work (ITT) of more than eight days. According to a police source, he was found naked on the road by a motorist. This source adds that he said he was attacked by two hooded people, while he had an appointment via a social network.
Friday morning a white march brought together nearly 1,500 people in Grande-Synthe to pay tribute to Philippe Coopman, whose funeral will take place Wednesday afternoon. “Grande-Synthe has lost one of its children,” said the town’s socialist mayor, Martial Beyaert. “May your passing make this drifting part of youth reflect. »
