A 15-year-old boy was fighting for his life on Friday after a shooting and mass brawl in Poitiers, western France.
Four others, including two 16-year-olds, were injured in clashes involving up to 600 people on Thursday night.
French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau linked the violence to drug trafficking gangs.
“These shootings aren't happening in South America, they're happening in here in France," he told French broadcaster RMC.
Retailleau said that “last Saturday in Rennes, a five-year-old was hit by bullets and is still in hospital.
“We are at a tipping point and the choice we have today is between a general mobilisation against this kind of thing or the Mexicanisation of the country."
Police reported that the initial attack occurred in Poitiers’ Les Couronneries district, where several men fired into a restaurant before fleeing in a car.
The mass brawl erupted following the shooting, police added.
“Tensions between different groups broke out, requiring the intervention of the police and gendarmerie,” said police chiefs from the Vienne region, where Poitiers is located.
Police reinforcements are expected in the city on Friday.
