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| “ | I've had enough, I shall commit suicide. But not before I kill two or three people. | „ |
| ~ Éric Borel bragging to his classmates the week prior to his massacre |
Éric Borel (December 11, 1978 - September 24, 1995) was a French mass murderer who went on a massacre and killed 16 people and injured 4 in the town of Cuers, France.
Early life edit
Eric was born to parents Marie-Jeanne Parenti and Jacques Borel who both worked in the military. They later divorced and Eric was sent to live with his grandparents until he was 5, Marie-Jeanne began to live with Yves Bichet and took him back to their home in Solliès-Pont.
Marie-Jeanne was a very religious person and would beat him on occasions believing that Eric was a "child of sin", after that he never had a relationship with her, his stepdad Yves was actually nice to Eric and even built a shack his chickens and other animals. At 8-years-old Eric broke his arm and hid until he was found shivering in pain, he was known for being a quiet person who kept to himself and would mostly tend to his chickens.
School, Motive, and Killing Spree edit
When he attended school in Toulon, he was described was a good student who studied in electromechanics, he was also said to be a disciplined and quiet student but things would quickly change. He would skip classes without permission, couldn't bear doing his homework, being bullied, and often said he wish he joined the military. The week prior before the massacre, he said he wanted to kill people before killing himself.
On September 23 at 6PM, he shot Yves 4 times with his dad's .22 caliber rifle and smashed his head in with a hammer, he later attacked his son Jean-Yves by shooting him first and then killed him with a hammer. He later killed his mom, after killing her Eric began to clean up the house and covered the bodies with bed spread and closed all shutters. He left the house carrying a bag with food, a raincoat, money, a map of Limoges, a bb pistol, and a rifle with pockets of ammo, he was heading towards Cuers in his car but crashed into a wall and slept in vines.
On the following day at 7:15 a.m., Borel arrived at the home of his friend Alan Guillemette. When Guillemette's mother opened the door Eric asked her to wake him. The two had a lengthy discussion in the garden, and apparently Eric wanted something from Guillemette, but when he declined and turned to go back into the house, Eric shot him in the back, mortally wounding him. From 7:30 a.m. onwards, Borel started shooting people at random. No one grew suspicious of his rifle until he started his rampage, since it was hunting season and the sight of rifles outside was to be expected.
First he shot at Ginette Vialette through an open window, mortally wounding her, as well as Denise Otto, whom he killed, while she was bringing the trash out. He also hit Otto's husband, Jean, in the shoulder. Subsequently Borel injured an elderly woman who was walking in the streets with her husband and shot and wounded two brothers who were crossing his path. The shots he fired at Rodolphe Incorvala, once again through an open window, were eventually lethal. He later died in a hospital. Borel crossed the street to shoot and kill shopkeeper Mario Pagani, who was out buying a newspaper, with shots in the abdomen and head, as well as Mohammed Maarad in front of the "Café du Commerce". Marius Boudon and André Touret were killed while they were drawing money from an ATM and Andrée Coletta while she was taking her poodle for a walk. Finally he shot Pascal Mostacchi to death at Place Peyssoneau.
By 8:00 a.m., police arrived at the scene. Realizing that he was surrounded, Borel fatally shot himself in the head under a cypress tree in front of a school. Observers of the rampage stated he had been poised and calm all the while, taking great care at aiming and shooting, hitting most of his victims in the head and returning when he did not hit properly the first time. In total, Borel had fired about 40 shots.