Young killed by a policeman in Nantes: after the night of riots, two versions oppose

The main information to remember:

• A young man of 22 years was shot dead by a policeman

• He would have refused to obey a police check and struck with his vehicle a CRS

• Riots broke out in three districts of Nantes at the announcement of his death

• The version of the witnesses is very different from that of the police [19659008] Why did these urban violence break out?

  According to the Departmental Direction of Public Security (DDSP), everything started from a "control by a crew of CRS following offenses committed by a vehicle", Tuesday evening, around 20:30, rue des Plantes, in the Breil district, in Nantes. The identity of the driver is "unclear, the CRS have been ordered to bring the driver" at the police station. This young man, living in the Paris region but having family in Nantes, refused to obey. He would have backed up and hit a CRS. His car ended his race in a low wall.

  This is where one of his colleagues shot. "One of his colleagues fired and touched the young man who unfortunately died," said the DDSP. According to police sources, the young person was reported to have been carotid and died on arrival at the hospital

  On the spot, the version of the witnesses seems very different. The young man "just wanted to escape control, and the policeman fired for no reason, there was no threat, he just backed up, but there was no cop behind the car." "I was there, there was even one person who filmed the whole scene, who put it on Facebook, but it was erased his video," says Kamel, a neighborhood resident, interviewed by Europe 1

  Europe 1 found the man who filmed the scene, and was able to watch the video. "They were controlling the young man, they wanted to bring him back with them, he just backed away, at the same time they shot at him in the throat," Ahmed testified. He badures that the young man could have been saved if the police had not waited so long to call the Samu or the firemen. "They are professionals, they could have tasered the young man.We hammer, pull on the tires, we use all means to not kill him, to avoid that! It's a burr, they are responsible! it's up to them to protect us and they kill our children, "erupts Ahmed.

  This version of the facts collected by our reporter is evidenced by another testimony, recorded and posted on Twitter by a journalist on site. "He was just trying to backtrack and he stamped it against the wall (…) There was no CRS wounded [Le jeune homme] was already motionless, he could not do anything else. happened, he shot at point blank, "says the witness. "The firefighters came after 10-15 minutes, they told us that he was not dead, whereas I saw, I tried to revive him, I tried everything but he lost life in front of me, "he badures

   A young man, witness of the tragedy of  #Breil  gives his version of the facts. Assures him that the CRS was not injured  #Nantes  pic.twitter.com/576SfZfQ39 
   - Marion Lopez (@MarionLpz)  July 3, 2018 

  * The name has been changed modified to preserve the anonymity of the witness.

  What happened next?

  The policeman's shooting would have immediately triggered a reaction from the neighborhood youth, who came out in numbers and hooded. Less than an hour after the death of the 22-year-old, the Breil flares up: cars, garbage cans and bus shelters are set on fire. About 200 police are mobilized and crisscross the perimeter. Young people throw projectiles and Molotov badtails at the security forces, who do not respond with tear gas.

  The contagion spreads to two other sensitive neighborhoods, Malakoff and Les Dervallières. Several shops – a bakery, a hairdresser and a kebab – are burned, as well as the annexed town hall, the House of justice and law, the medical center and the library located in the same building.

  

  Several vehicles were burned in the three neighborhoods affected by the riots. Photo credit: SEBASTIEN SALOM GOMIS / AFP
                      

  Around 2 o'clock in the morning, the mayor of Nantes Johanna Rolland speaks: "My first thought, tonight, is for this young man, for his family.Justice will have to shed light on what happened tonight, but the urgency is the call to calm. " This call was clearly heard since the calm returned late at night, around 3 am, while firefighters were still working to extinguish the flames.

  "It's sad for parents, family, 22 years, it's not an age to lose one's life, and more in such conditions … Young people feel more and more angry, "said Ali, a resident of the district of Les Dervallières, interviewed by Europe 1.

  Where is the Inquiry?

  According to a police source, the riots did not provoke an arrest at this stage. Regarding the death of the young man, the SRPJ of Nantes and the Inspectorate General of the National Police are seized of the investigation. They must "specify the commission of the facts and determine under what circumstances the policeman was brought to use his weapon," said the prosecutor of the Republic of Nantes, Pierre Sennès.

  "We must check what the police You can not shoot a man like that! The inhabitants who are there do not speak of a police officer who would have been hit, "protested Guy, who has lived in the Dervallières district for 12 years. [19659010] Wednesday morning, Les Dervallières, the district most affected by the riots, is still squared by mobile gendarmes, tells us our journalist on the spot. Already, the inhabitants evoke a white march that could take place during the day in memory of the young man.