A 17-year-old boy was lured into an ambush at a construction site in Narbonne in southern France and beaten and kicked until he lost consciousness. Four days later, he died from his injuries. Five people—three of them minors—have been charged with attempted premeditated murder and remanded in custody.

The boy is identified in the French press by his first name, Louis. He was attacked on the evening of Friday 19 June at a construction site on Quai d’Alsace in Narbonne, in the Aude department. According to the public prosecutor, he was deliberately lured to the location. There he was punched and kicked in the head while lying on the ground, and left unconscious.

A construction worker found him the following day in a critical condition. He had multiple haemorrhages and haematomas to the face, and was bleeding from his nose and mouth. Louis was first taken to hospital in Narbonne, then transferred to Perpignan, where he was placed in an induced coma. On Tuesday 23 June, he died from his injuries.

The death became known to the public prosecutor’s office at the same time as the five suspects appeared before the investigating judge. They were charged that same week with attempted premeditated murder (tentative d’assassinat) and remanded in custody. The charge may now be amended following the boy’s death.

Watch the video. The family has authorised its circulation in order to dispel rumours that this was “a fight”.

Public Prosecutor Jean-Philippe Rey in Narbonne says the attack was premeditated.

– The evidence collected indicates that these acts of extreme seriousness were premeditated, and that the accused had laid an ambush for the victim by luring him onto a construction site in order to beat him to death.

The attack was filmed. According to the police, one of the perpetrators filmed the violence at close range, and the video quickly spread on social media. It was the footage that enabled police to identify and arrest the five suspects swiftly. Two were arrested in Albi, while the remaining three were arrested as they got off a train in Narbonne. Louis’s family has publicly confirmed that it authorised the circulation of the video itself in order to counter claims by some media outlets that the incident had been “a fight”.

Both the victim and the accused had links to the French child welfare system (Aide sociale à l’enfance, ASE). Louis was living in a residential care institution after being placed there at his family’s own request, rather than by court order. The five accused are said to have known one another—and Louis—through child welfare institutions in the Occitanie region. According to a police source cited by CNEWS, Louis had already been attacked by some of them earlier that month.

Of the five accused, three are minors and two are adults. A police source told CNEWS that they range in age from 16 to 19. Prosecutor Rey said they have “little or no” previous criminal record.

The motive remains unclear.

– The motive has not been clearly established. The explanations are contradictory on this point, said Rey. An act of revenge has been mentioned as one possible line of inquiry, but has not been confirmed.

The case has provoked strong reactions in French politics. Rassemblement National leader Jordan Bardella described the violence as “unimaginable” and called it a symbol of “a country gone astray”. Éric Zemmour wrote that such cases are not isolated incidents but “symptoms”, describing the perpetrators as “a pack of thugs”. Former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal expressed his sorrow and condolences to the bereaved. Elon Musk also commented on the case on X.

The identities and backgrounds of the accused have not been disclosed by the French public prosecutor’s office.