There are around 40 violent gangs active in the French capital armed with baseball bats and knives, according to police, with members as young as 13.
On Saturday a 15-year-old boy, named only as Ismaël D., died after a brawl with 30 youths erupted in Paris’ 11th and 20th arrondissements.
He died from his injuries minutes after arriving at hospital.
Police arrested six people after the deadly fight, with only one since being released from custody. Most were aged 15 or 16-years-old.
Locals were left shaken by the teenager’s death, saying violent teen gangs were behind the growing “climate of violence” in Paris.
An unnamed Bastille resident told the French news channel BFM TV: “Gang violence is on the rise – every time you go out, you can hear teenagers hurling insults at each other.”
Another accused gang members of using violence to “control their turf and impose their own laws”.
Police said they had formally identified around 125 gang members.
Rocco Contento, a police trade unionist, told BFM: “A worrying number of teenagers are joining these gangs. But this trend poses a huge challenge for police, as most don’t have a criminal record and are therefore hard to find.
“Another difficulty is the fact that they use encrypted messaging apps such as WhatsApp to communicate.”
Jean-Michel Huguet of Paris’ Alliance police union, said: “The youngest gang members are around 13 and the oldest are around 18. Most of them don’t even know what they’re fighting for. And they’re often ‘flash’ fights that break out over futile disagreements.”
Saturday’s death was the second gang-related death in less than five months. In September, a 17-year-old was fatally shot in the abdomen during a brawl between rival gangs in northern Paris.