French Police Investigate Female Hitwoman Over Fatal Shisha Bar Shooting
A 32-year-old woman in France has been arrested and placed under investigation as a suspected hired hitwoman in a fatal shisha bar shooting in Ivry-sur-Seine. The attack, which left two dead, highlights shifting recruitment patterns in organized crime.
A 32-year-old mother of three, suspected of operating as a hired hitwoman, has been formally placed under investigation and remanded in custody following a fatal shooting at a shisha bar in Ivry-sur-Seine, in the southern suburbs of Paris. The suspect, identified as Zohra A., was previously known to authorities for involvement in illegal cigarette smuggling. She is suspected of opening fire during an attack that left two people dead.
An Unprecedented Case in France
According to the French weekly Paris Match, investigators view the case as unprecedented in France. During her interrogation, the suspect claimed she acted under coercion, France 24 reported. A third suspect, believed to have acted as the getaway driver, has also been brought before judicial authorities, though no decision has been released regarding his status.
The shooting occurred at around 3:00 a.m. on a Monday at L'Atelier shisha bar. The manager of the establishment was killed at the scene, and another person succumbed to their injuries in the hospital on October 13, according to the public prosecutor's office. A security guard sustained minor injuries to his hand during the attack, a police source told France 24.
Investigation and Evidence
Shortly after the shooting, investigators located a burned-out stolen car near the bar. A Kalashnikov assault rifle was found in the passenger seat, according to the same police source. Following the incident, the Paris branch of the specialized interregional judicial authority opened an investigation into murder and attempted murder as part of organized crime, as well as the destruction of property by means dangerous to human life within an organized gang.
Several individuals have been arrested in connection with the investigation, and decisions regarding further legal proceedings against the suspects have been handed over to the competent judicial authorities.
Organized Crime Connections
Investigators are focusing on the possibility that the shooting was a targeted hit on the bar manager, who was known to authorities for drug trafficking involvement. According to Le Monde, as cited by Paris Match, this line of inquiry is also linked to a previous assassination attempt against him and his underworld connections.
In April 2024, the manager survived an assassination attempt after being shot in the legs. He managed to escape into the bar while the assailant pursued him and continued firing in front of about ten customers, Le Parisien reported.
A business partner of the manager was also attacked in the United Kingdom. On October 8, a 50-year-old French national was stabbed multiple times at his home in Thurby, eastern England, and his 15-year-old son was also injured. Both were hospitalized in critical condition, and no arrests have been reported in that case, according to Le Parisien, as cited by Paris Match.
Shifting Dynamics in Crime
The suspect arrested in Paris was previously known to authorities for cigarette smuggling, France 24 reported, citing details first published by Le Monde. Investigators suspect that on the night of the attack, she shot the bar manager while he was working at the cash register, and then joined accomplices waiting in a nearby car. Additional shots were subsequently fired from the vehicle toward the bar, reportedly causing the death of an employee, according to Le Parisien.
The alleged involvement of a woman as a shooter in an underworld assassination may illustrate a shift in recruitment patterns among French criminal organizations. According to an assessment published in April by the French criminal intelligence service Sirasco, criminal networks are increasingly recruiting women and minors for various roles, ranging from surveillance and transporting criminals to locating targets.
The service noted that women no longer necessarily occupy secondary roles in criminal organizations and, in some cases, are involved in carrying out assassinations.
Collapse of a Criminal Network
The murdered bar manager was identified as Mamar Bouzidi, nicknamed Amar. According to the Viral Mag website, his death marks the final collapse of a criminal organization that operated in the Val-de-Marne department, gained power in the early 2000s, and was once considered a dominant force in the region.
According to the same report, the murder fits into a prolonged weakening process of the network, which spent years dealing with police pressure and internal conflicts, particularly following the assassination of its veteran leader in 2019.
Although the investigations concerning the shooting in Ivry-sur-Seine and the stabbing in the United Kingdom are being handled separately, the sequence of violent incidents surrounding the bar manager and his associates has drawn growing interest regarding potential links between criminal elements on both sides of the English Channel, and the possibility that professional hit squads were utilized, according to Paris Match.
