Bio

Jean-Pierre Roux-Durraffourt lived in Chambray-lès-Tours. He worked as a railway worker. He also worked as a heavy equipment operator.

He had a passion for shooting. He regularly practiced with a .22 long rifle at a shooting range in Semblançay.

He was a father of three. He was divorced in 1999 and lived somewhat isolated.

Available reports do not give details about his birth, childhood, parents, or schooling. At the time of his 2005 trial, he was 47 years old.

Murder Story

On October 29, 2001, in the center of Tours, Jean-Pierre Roux-Durraffourt got out of his car, put on a balaclava, and took a .22 long rifle. For about 30 minutes he walked within a 300-meter radius of Tours City Hall and fired at people and at property. He killed a 48-year-old man and two other men, aged 59 and 66. He wounded seven people, including three police officers and a gendarme.

He then moved to Boulevard Heurteloup and shot a 33-year-old man with a single bullet. He went into an underground parking garage between the Tours train station and the Vinci International Convention Center. The city center was closed off while security forces entered the garage. Hidden behind a car, he shouted, "I want a plane to Kabul!" Two police officers wounded him in the chest and then apprehended him.

On March 16, 2003, a large judicial reconstruction took place in downtown Tours. Roux-Durraffourt said he no longer remembered his actions and gave several possible reasons, including a dispute with his son, harassment at work, and saying he wanted to draw attention to Afghan children.

His trial began on March 16, 2005 before the Indre-et-Loire Assize Court. He was tried for murders and attempted murders, including attacks on members of the gendarmerie and national police. Three psychiatric experts said he had a paranoid personality disorder but was not mentally ill and that he was feigning "utilitarian amnesia." The defense said one expert found him not responsible because of psychotic episodes, but that view was not accepted. He claimed many memory lapses. On March 29, 2005, he was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 22 years. He announced an intention to appeal and later withdrew it.

On the morning of the shooting, some media reported a possible terrorist attack after the September 11 attacks. Interior Minister Daniel Vaillant cut short an official trip and later awarded two police officers a silver medal for acts of courage. President Jacques Chirac sent a message of solidarity to the mayor of Tours. A commemorative stele with the victims' names was later installed at the eastern end of Boulevard Béranger at the request of the victims' families.