Deadly shooting of a police officer was not self-defense

The death of a 22-year-old police officer in Nantes sparked violent riots. For three nights, cars and buildings burned. Now the policeman admits false information.

After a fatal shooting of a policeman on a 22-year-old man in Nantes, the official admits an error. He had accidentally shot, said his lawyer, according to the French radio station "France Bleu". "No self-defense at the time of the shot because the shot was involuntary."

The officer had fatally injured the 22-year-old driver Tuesday night during a neck check. The incident had caused outrage, in the city near the Atlantic coast, it triggered three nights in a row. Due to doubts about the appearance of the shooter, he was already in custody since Thursday, investigators accused him of "willful violence" with fatal consequences. The magistrate conducted a preliminary investigation Friday night for assaults.

The 22-year-old man was known to the police for "gang theft", was raided by warrant and reported false identities to the police. Then he suddenly reset his vehicle to escape control. Attorney Pierre Sennès spoke of a dangerous maneuver – a police officer threw himself on the side of the road and took away a girl who could have been injured.

The driver struck a parked vehicle and attempted to escape. According to the officer, it happened when he tried to get in the car to stop the evasion maneuver. Originally, he described the incident to investigators differently, as his lawyer acknowledged Lienard. His client had fled in a statement that offered a respectable framework for shooting, he told CNews. Now the policeman makes a mistake

Four riot arrests

Friday night, according to authorities, 52 vehicles were burned and seven buildings in different districts of Nantes were damaged. The police arrested four people, no one was injured. The day before, according to a report from the regional newspaper Ouest-France, more than 1,000 people had participated in a commemorative march for this 22-year-old girl

The French police are notoriously overburdened by the series of more than 240 dead since January 2015. In addition, many police officers face escalating attacks in the suburbs. Inmates in the suburbs accuse public servants of brutal methods and the exaggerated use of firearms.

The arrest of a man in a Parisian suburb illustrates the tense relationship between the police and the residents: he is accused of having a pair of police mistreated. The men accused the official of having unfairly controlled them. President Emmanuel Macron condemned on Twitter "indignation and cowardice" of the authors.