| Sofitel massacre | |
|---|---|
| Location | Avignon, France |
| Date | 5 August 1983 3:30 a.m. (CEST) |
| Target | Sofitel hotel |
Attack type | Mass shooting, robbery |
| Deaths | 7 |
| Perpetrators | Jean Roussel, François Arpinot, Gérard Rolland |
| Motive | Robbery |
On 5 August 1983 at 3:30 am, gunmen entered a luxury Sofitel hotel in Avignon, France. They killed seven people there in a mass shooting which has been referred to as the Sofitel massacre. Four of those killed were guests and three were employees. [1]
Police believed the gunmen were hoping to break into the hotel's safe deposit boxes. [2] The unmasked men entered the hotel lobby with a revolver and two 9mm pistols and ordered the receptionist to take them to the manager's room, apparently to search for a master key of the boxes. [2] [1] Two guests who had been alerted by the noise attempted to intervene. [1] The gunmen panicked, and took seven people hostage. [1] They shot the hostages in three different second-floor rooms before attempting to flee the area. [1] Police said the murders appeared to be an attempt to eliminate witnesses who could identify the gunmen. [1] They encountered police during their escape and one of the gunmen was captured after a struggle that left one policeman injured. [1] Another one of the gunmen was recognized by one of the police officers. [1] The captured gunman was identified as Jean Roussel, a parole evader who had been serving a 15-year prison sentence at a prison in eastern France, but had been given leave after serving 12 years and had not returned to prison after his leave expired. [1]
The murders occurred shortly after the French government had abolished the death penalty for murder and in another move made it easier for long-term prisoners to win parole. [2] The government was criticised by hotel and restaurant unions as well as the police, demanding tougher action against crime. [2] Minister of Justice Robert Badinter, criticized by political opponents for being soft on crime, said that prison governors should exercise extra on granting clemency to hardented criminals in the future. [1]
During the subsequent investigation, Roussel barely spoke, and he died from a heart attack in 1985. [3] In June 1987, François Arpinot, a scrap dealer, and Gérard Rolland, a nightclub bouncer, were sentenced to 18 and 15 years in prison, respectively. [4] It was implied that Roussel launched the robbery to finance his escape, as he was already detained in another case but granted leave. [4]