A French police officer who shot and killed a 17-year-old driver will be investigated for voluntary homicide, following two days of fires and violent protests that injured scores of officers, officials said Thursday.

Based on an initial investigation, Prache said, he concluded that "the conditions for the legal use of the weapon were not met.”

Three persons were in the car when police tried to stop it Tuesday, the prosecutor said. Nahel managed to avoid a traffic stop by running a red light. He was later got stuck in a traffic jam.

Both officers involved said they drew their guns to prevent him from starting the car again.

The officer who fired a single shot said he wanted to prevent the car from leaving and because he feared someone may be hit by the car, including himself or his colleague, according to Prache.

Both officers said they felt “threatened” by seeing the car drive off, he added.

  •  bbbhltz   ( @bbbhltz@beehaw.org ) English
    6•1 year ago

    There are a few details not covered in the summary.

    Prior to the police getting off their motorcycles and approaching the vehicle, they had tried to stop Nahel 2 times. Nahel, although a minor and not having a criminal record, was not unknown to police and had evaded police earlier in the week or month. They wanted to stop him because he was driving dangerously and even ran up on a curb and nearly ran over a cyclist and pedestrian.

    Then he pulled into a bus lane where he could no longer advance.

    The car he was driving was a new Canary Yellow Mercedes AGM or something, I don’t know cars. This was a 17 year old without a license who had already been caught driving without a license when he was 15. The car also had Polish plates.

    This is not an uncommon thing. There are both legal and illegal reasons that people do this, so no point in commenting further until the police know who let him use the car.

    He turned off the engine. The police came alongside the car. There was a conversation. Someone yelled what could have been a threat (if the police said it) or a warning (if his passenger said it). Nahel then started the car and pulled away at the same moment the officer fired hitting him in the upper arm and neck, apparently. EMS was on the scene in 3 minutes and worked on him for 30 minutes.

    One of the passengers fled.

    Right now the officer is under investigation for homicide. Justice may be served. His body cam was not on; dead battery.

    The riots have been insane. Schools and town halls burned down. Banking machines ripped from the walls. Cars burned. Military is coming in tonight.