Why did the police shoot at this car? While the police check during which a driver was seriously injured and a passenger killed by police fire on Saturday in Paris turned into a political dispute on Monday between Jean-Luc Mélenchon, his opponents and the police unions, a week before first round of the legislative elections, the investigation continues.
>> Paris: what we know about the death of a passenger in a car, shot and killed by police denouncing a refusal to comply
The police custody, which began on Sunday in the premises of the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN), of the two men and the woman who allegedly fired at the vehicle was extended on Monday, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office. These police officers are heard for “violence having caused a total interruption of work of more than 8 days with a weapon by a person holding public authority” and “violence having caused death without intention to give it by a person holding public authority “. The police custody was decided “because of the seriousness of the consequences of the shootings carried out and in order to verify the conditions of use of their weapons by the persons concerned”, according to the prosecution.
In total, nine bullets were fired by three peacekeepers, who denounce a “refusal to comply”. On board the car, a driver, a 38-year-old man, without a driver’s license and whose car belongs to his mother, and three passengers. Seriously injured in the chest, the latter could not yet be heard by the investigators. This 30-year-old, on semi-freedom, has numerous convictions on his criminal record. With him, a friend, who is unharmed, and two 21-year-old young women, one of whom lost her life, victim of a bullet in the head. The other passenger claims that they were finishing a night of partying during which they had met the two men. This trip to four looked like a last lap in the car therefore turned tragic on Saturday morning.
If we mainly hear the version of the police, for the moment, who say they felt threatened and acted in self-defense, the story from the car seems different. According to information from franceinfo, the witnesses explain that there was no excessive speed and no “gear start”. They claim that the driver pretended not to see the police, to ignore the control, before finally stopping in view of the traffic, but too late.