Boy, 15, shot dead in France as prosecutors blame drug war

Boy, 15, shot dead in France as prosecutors blame drug war11 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleJames WaterhouseParis correspondentGetty ImagesThe fatal shooting is the second in this area of Nantes within a monthFrench prosecutors say a 15-year-old boy has been killed and a boy of 13 is fighting for his life in a suspected drugs-related shooting in the western city of Nantes.The attackers were wearing balaclavas and used automatic weapons, according to the country's Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez.The 13-year-old is in a critical condition and a third boy was also wounded."The shots were fired at three young men," said Nantes prosecutor Antoine Leroy, who believed the attack was a settling of scores in relation to drug offences.This was an assessment resolutely rejected by the 15-year-old boy's aunt, named as Paola, from Nantes' working-class neighbourhood of Port-Boyer.She told reporters her nephew "was not a criminal"."You shouldn't mix everything up," said Paola. "He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. He wasn't involved in any of that; he had simply come to visit a friend."As people gathered around the police cordon, the mother of one of the victims could be heard crying in despair from her car. It's an area where high-rise apartment blocks sit along the banks of the Erdre river."The boys were on their way to their grandmother's house," explains Stella, 35. "I was home when it happened. A police officer called me to bring my son back and tell me my nephew was injured"."I feel like I'm in a nightmare and I'm angry because I almost lost my son."Angeline, 18, described hearing two bursts of around 10 gunshots, before seeing several people "hooded and dressed in black" running through the grass.Getty ImagesLocal Mayor Johanna Rolland has called for police to deploy all their resources to find the attackersThe city's...