Eric Borel was a 16-year-old French student who, across September 23–24, 1995, murdered three members of his family in Solliès-Pont (Var) and then walked to nearby Cuers, where he opened fire in the streets, killing twelve more before taking his own life.
Erik Borel
Spree Killer
Eric Borel | The Cuers Massacre of 1995
Last Updated December 2, 2025
- Offender: Éric Borel (b. Dec 11, 1978 – d. Sept 24, 1995)
- AKA: None commonly used.
- Victims (fatal): 15 people (3 family at Solliès-Pont + 12 in Cuers); injured: 4. (Two wounded victims died later, raising the toll to 15.)
- Location: Solliès-Pont and Cuers, Var (Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur), France.
- Dates: Sept 23–24, 1995.
- Weapons: .22 LR rifle; blunt instruments in the home; suicide by firearm.
- Status: Deceased (suicide), Sept 24, 1995, when confronted by gendarmes.
Classification & Characteristics | Eric Borel
Borel is classed as a juvenile spree killer and parricide whose violence unfolded in two acts: intrafamilial killings followed by public, mobile shootings. Accounts describe a quiet, withdrawn teen with authoritarian home tensions who fixated on order, military identity, and fatalistic fantasies; investigators found no terrorist motive. The Cuers massacre remains among France’s deadliest non-terrorist mass shootings.
Case Summary | Eric Borel
Over roughly 24 hours, a 16-year-old student moved from private violence to public massacre. After killing his family in Solliès-Pont, Borel walked to Cuers, shot a friend who refused to run away with him, and then attacked strangers in the town center. Police response ended the spree when Borel shot himself. Subsequent coverage examined family dynamics, school performance, and a desire to join the military; no single precipitating “manifesto” emerged from the inquiry.
Timeline of the Eric Borel Case →
- Sept 23, 1995 (afternoon) – Solliès-Pont: Borel kills his stepfather, half-brother, and mother at home; spends the night nearby.
- Sept 24, 1995 (morning) – Cuers area: He shoots his school friend Alan Guillemette after a brief encounter, then walks into Cuers and fires at passers-by for ~30 minutes, killing and wounding victims across several streets.
- Sept 24 (late morning): Surrounded by gendarmes, Borel commits suicide near the La Ferrage school.
- Late 1995–1996: Two wounded victims later die of injuries; the death toll is finalized at 15 victims (plus the shooter).
- 2009: Cuers unveils a memorial stele to the victims.
→ FAQs
- Where did it happen? Solliès-Pont and Cuers, Var, in southern France.
- How many victims? 15 killed, 4 injured; the offender died by suicide.
- Was there a trial? No. The offender died at the scene; the matter remained a police/prosecutorial investigation.
- Known motive? No officially established ideological motive; media and investigators cited family conflict and personal deterioration.
🕊️Victim of Eric Borel
- A complete list appears in French sources; victims include Yves Bichet (48), Marie-Jeanne Parenti (36), Jean-Yves Bichet (11) in Solliès-Pont; Alan Guillemette (17); and residents of Cuers such as Ginette Vialette (48), Denise Otto (77), Mario Pagani (81), Mohammed Maarad (41), Andrée Coletta (65), Pascal Mostacchi (15), among others. (Names per contemporary and retrospective French reports.)
The Cuers Massacre
👉 The Story
Eric Borel
French student, Eric Borel, became a spree killer at just 16 years old. He decided, on September 23rd, 1995, to annihilate his family and then some. Before the day would end, 16 people would lay dead and four more would be wounded.
Eric was born the son of two military personal, Marie-Jeanne Parenti and “Jacky” Borel. Their marriage didn’t last however and little Eric was packed off to Jacky’s parent’s home in Limoges. He lived there until he was about five, when his mother returned to reclaim him. She moved him to Sollies Pont. He wasn’t happy with this and likewise was not happy with his mother or her new husband.
Eric’s mother, and his step-father, mistreated him (Eric) from the very beginning. She (Marie) believed him (Eric) to be a “child of sin” and so berated and beat him all of his young life. He did well in school however and accelerated at electro-mechanics. That is until his last year of high school. That year his behaviors changed drastically.
He suddenly started skipping school and disappearing without explanation. He started ranting on about not being able to tolerate his home life, being called names and taking beatings and having too much home work to do. He would also state that he was going to commit suicide but that he was not going out alone. He would be taking a few people with him.
He held true to those rants on the evening of the 23rd.
At about 6:00 p.m. Eric walked into the kitchen and shot his step-father four times with a .22-caliber rifle. He then smashed his skull in with a hammer. He next made his way into the living room and shot his half-brother, 11-year-old Jean-Yves Bichet, who was watching TV. Afterwards he beat his head in with the hammer. Then he waited patiently for his mother to return home from church.
As soon as his mother arrived at the house, Eric fired a single shot into her head. Using the same hammer, he gave his mother’s skull the same treatment as the other two.
After murdering his mother, Eric cleaned the house of the obvious blood, closed the shutters and the steel gate. He then covered the three dead bodies with sheets. He packed a bag with some food, money, a raincoat, a map and his firearms. His pockets where filled with ammunition. He grabbed the family car and he left the house.
The next morning, Eric arrived at the house of the only friend he really had; 17 year old Alan Guillemette. Alan’s mother opened the door and Eric asked to talk to his friend. She woke Alan and he and Eric walked to the garden to talk. A conversation took place and, when Alan turned himself to walk back to the house, Eric shot him dead.
After that, it was no holds barred. Eric stepped out with no discretion and he simply started shooting people at random. Ginette Vialette, through an open window, took the first bullet. She died at once. The next was a woman who was hauling her trash to the curb. He wounded the woman’s husband next. Then an elderly woman who was walking in the streets with her husband. Next were two brothers who had the misfortune of crossing his path. He shot Rodolphe Incorvala through an open window before crossing the street to murder shopkeeper Mario Pagani and Mohammed Maarad in front of the local cafe. Marius Boudon and André Touret were killed next, followed by Andrée Coletta while she was walking her poodle. Finally he shot Pascal Moustaki to death on the street.
The police arrived on the scene close to 8:00 a.m. and Eric knew at once that the gig was up. He sat down near a cypress tree and put the gun to his own head. He pulled the trigger. The death toll was now 16.
Eric Borel’s half hour shooting spree, through the streets of Cuers, was labelled the deadliest mass murder in France since 1989, when Christian Dornier killed 14 people in Luxiol.
Éric Borel | The Cuers Massacre of 1995 | Teenage Killing Spree
Legal Status | Paper Trail | Eric Borel
- Investigative posture: A judicial inquiry was opened; because the perpetrator died by suicide, no criminal trial followed and the file was administratively closed after inquest. Contemporary and retrospective reporting outline the inquiry and sequence.
- Official tallies & chronology: Consolidated counts (family murders on Sept 23; Cuers rampage on Sept 24; two later hospital deaths) are summarized in national/intl reports and encyclopedic entries.
- Public commemoration: Cuers installed a memorial stele (2009) and has held anniversary ceremonies (e.g., 2015 – 20 years; 2025 – 30 years).
📚 Additional Resources
- Cuers Massacre (Wikipedia) – solid overview with dates, victim list, and sources for deeper digging.
- Los Angeles Times (Sept. 26, 1995) – contemporaneous report from Cuers with scene details and toll updates.
- Nice-Matin / Monaco-Matin (30 years later) – French local retrospective and remembrance of the tragedy’s impact on the Var.
📚 Further Reading / Watching
- UPI Archive (Sept. 25, 1995): “French teen kills 12, then self” – wire report filed the day after the rampage.
- The Independent (Sept. 28, 1995): “A black day in Provence” – long-form piece exploring the days around the killings.
- YouTube – Nice-Matin: “Tuerie de Cuers : 30 ans après” – short video look-back with local context (FR).
- Bruno Masi, 8 kilomètres (JC Lattès) – investigative book centered on the Cuers massacre (FR).
- Murderpedia: Éric Borel – summary entry collating media and court references.
This site contains affiliate links. We may, at no cost to you, receive a commission for purchases made through these links. Thank you for your support.
JOIN US
Fireside Crime Stories
If the written word keeps you leaning forward into the shadows, then you’ll love settling back by the fire with us. On our YouTube channel, these same haunting stories are told in a softer voice – woven with stormlight, fire crackle, and quiet piano. Perfect for late-night listening, or for those who want to drift into slumber carried by true crime whispers instead of headlines. Step into the firelight, and join us there.
👉 Related WickedWe Posts
- George Hennard | Luby’s Massacre (1991) – A lone gunman’s public rampage in Killeen, Texas; parallels the sudden, indiscriminate nature of Borel’s street shootings.
- James Oliver Huberty | San Ysidro McDonald’s Massacre (1984) – A mass shooting in a public, everyday setting; strong thematic echo of ordinary spaces turned deadly.
👉 This page is part of the WickedWe True Crime Archive – a resource for researchers, students, and true crime enthusiasts seeking verified facts, case records, and deeper historical context. [Disclaimer→ WickedWe.com is an educational/entertainment column only. No graphic imagery. Victim-respect policy. Nothing herein is legal advice.]
Beyond the Gavel
Roll Card – Snapshot
- Dates/places: Sept 23–24, 1995; Solliès-Pont → Cuers (Var, FR).
- Fatalities: 15 civilians (3 family the first night; 12 from Cuers—two later in hospital); perpetrator deceased by suicide.
- Injured: Multiple (contemporary counts vary 4–8 across early wires; later lists standardize to several seriously wounded).
- Weapon: .22 Anschütz rifle; family killings also used blunt force.
Docket Map – Proceedings (condensed)
- 1995: Gendarmerie/Parquet open inquiry; scene work in Solliès-Pont and Cuers; international press coverage begins within 24–48 hours (NYT/LA Times/Independent). No prosecution due to offender’s death.
- 2009–2025: Memorialization and periodic retrospectives by regional media (Var-Matin/Nice-Matin), national outlets (RTL), and historical overviews.
Stay / Warrant / Window
- Trial/execution: Not applicable – offender deceased at scene; no open warrants. Case is historically closed; remembrance/press retrospectives continue.
Case File Extras | What the Record Shows
- Primary overview: Cuers massacre (event page with sequence, victims, and references).
- Contemporary reporting: UPI/AP-syndicated coverage and UK press detail the evolving toll and community impact.
- Local retrospective: Nice-Matin’s 30-year feature and RTL’s long-form podcast revisit facts and memory.
- Memorial evidence: French-language sources noting the 2009 stele and anniversary ceremonies.
Source Pack
- Wikipedia- Cuers massacre (event summary, timeline, victims).
- The Independent – “A black day in Provence” (Sept 26, 1995).
- UPI archive (via Recordnet reprint) – “French teen kills 12…” (Sept 25, 1995).
- Los Angeles Times – “French Teen Kills 12 People, Then Himself” (Sept 25, 1995).
- RTL – L’Heure du Crime: Tuerie de Cuers (long-form audio, 2024).
- Nice-Matin – 30 ans après, ils racontent (2025 update).
