Death of Jean-Lucien Argelier in Guadeloupe: the gendarme responsible for the shooting placed under formal investigation
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In Le Moule, Guadeloupe, a 65-year-old man was shot dead by a gendarme on 12 April 2026. The gendarme who fired has been placed under formal investigation (mise en examen) for “fatal violence by a person vested with public authority” and put under judicial supervision unusually quickly – an unprecedented judicial response in Guadeloupe.
Screenshot from the video filmed in the moments after the shots were fired at Jean-Lucien Argelier, the victim lying dying on the ground. Source: Kolektif Gwadloup kont violans a jandam.
On 12 April 2026, in the early evening, in the Bonan neighbourhood of Le Moule, Guadeloupe, three officers of the gendarmerie, France’s military police, responded to a call from a local resident reporting a disturbance on the public highway. On arrival, they found Jean-Lucien Argelier, known as Libert, aged 65, holding a knife. According to the Pointe-à-Pitre prosecutor, Caroline Calbo, the gendarmes first used a Taser before one of them opened fire three times at Jean-Lucien Argelier, who died at the scene.
Contacted by Index’s editorial team, the collective Gwadloup Kont Vyolans a Jandam describes a marginalised man: Jean-Lucien Argelier spent much of his time on the street and suffered from psychological instability and a motor disability.
The lawyers’ collective Avoka Defans a la Defans disputes the circumstances of the operation, questioning whether the conditions for self-defence were met. In a statement on 14 April, the collective also condemned the failure to help Jean-Lucien Argelier after the shooting. A video shared on social media, capturing the scene moments after the shots were fired, shows gendarmes searching the unconscious victim on the ground while others hold back witnesses trying to reach him.
The gendarme who fired was taken into custody the same evening, and prosecutors extended his detention. On Tuesday 14 April, he was brought before the court, placed under formal investigation for “fatal violence by a person vested with public authority”, and placed under judicial supervision with a ban on carrying a weapon. The investigation has been handed to the gendarmerie’s criminal investigation unit, which must determine whether the conditions for self-defence were met.
The Kolektif Gwadloup Kont Vyolans a Jandam stresses that this is the first time in Guadeloupe that a gendarme who fired a fatal shot has been placed under investigation so quickly, and is demanding that the full circumstances of Jean-Lucien Argelier’s death be brought to light.