A young man and two teenagers were shot dead overnight on Saturday in the southern French city of Marseille, known for its violent drug wars, reports RFI.
The victims, two 15-year-olds and a 24-year-old, were standing around the stairwell of an apartment block when several individuals approached in two cars and opened fire, according to a judicial source.
They incident occured in Lauriers, one of the city's most notorious estates.
Some 20 cartridges were found at the scene, and two burned-out cars were later discovered around 20 kilometres north of Marseille.
The 24-year-old was known to police, according to the judicial source.
Interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve said that "at this stage, we are working on the hypothesis that these murders were related to drug trafficking."