The policeman who fired the shot who killed a 33-year-old man on Saturday during a check in Sevran was placed in police custody on Wednesday by the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN), in charge of the investigation. He could not be auditioned earlier because he had been hospitalized “in a state of shock”.
“At this stage of the investigation carried out by the IGPN, he is placed in police custody on the charge of voluntary violence having led to death without intention to give it, aggravated by his quality of person depositary of the public authority and the “Use of a weapon”, announced at the beginning of the evening the prosecutor Eric Mathais in a press release.
The shooting of the police officer at the origin of the death
The drama took place at midday on Saturday, when a crew from the Aulnay-sous-Bois anti-crime brigade wanted to check the reported stolen van driven by the victim. “A policeman went up to the driver’s window and, in circumstances that remain to be determined, used his weapon – a single shot – as the van suddenly started again”, had previously traced Eric Mathais.
Seriously injured in the left shoulder blade, the driver died at the end of the afternoon in hospital. The autopsy confirmed that the shooting was the cause of death.
Strong tensions in Seine-Saint-Denis
The death of this resident of the Beaudottes district, named Jean-Paul, caused four consecutive nights of clashes in several communes of Seine-Saint-Denis, bordering the district. In Sevran, Aulnay-sous-Bois and Tremblay-en-France, popular towns located northeast of Paris, vehicles and garbage cans were set on fire and projectiles thrown at the police. No one has been injured so far.
An important security device is again deployed for this Wednesday evening. A “white march” is organized Saturday morning in memory of the victim, departing from Aulnay-sous-Bois.
Complaint for murder
According to the stories of residents, Jean-Paul, nicknamed “JP” was an independent delivery driver who worked with a parcel delivery service provider. He had stolen the van from her because of a financial dispute. Several residents told AFP that they did not understand why the official had not “pulled in the wheels”, and questioned the possibility of self-defense. “It’s a situation that could have been avoided,” said one of them. “He (the policeman) must have panicked. The trigger was sensitive…”
Police unions highlighted the victim’s judicial past and considered that the response was proportionate. It is a “hit and run with overthrown policeman”, wrote the union of national police commissioners on Twitter.
“He had the legal career of a young person who evolved in a difficult neighborhood, who was looking for himself, but who no longer owed anything to justice”, nuanced his long-time lawyer, Me Steeve Ruben, to AFP. , who now represents the family alongside Philippe-Henry Honegger and Arié Alimi. They announced that they had filed a complaint with civil action for murder in Bobigny.
Sentenced for acts of “theft and concealment”, according to Mr. Ruben, the 30-year-old, who was raising four children with his partner, had recently undergone personal assistance training in Canada. “It’s amazing to think that the police have a license to kill. There to stop a hit-and-run, you are taking someone’s life, ”said the lawyer, who appealed to collect videos or testimonies of the incident.
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