Unrest erupted in a Parisian suburb following the death of a young man during a traffic stop
Firefighters put out a burning car in Nanterre, west of Paris, on June 27, 2023. © Zakaria Abdelkafi / AFP
Twenty people have been detained for rioting in Nanterre, a western suburb of Paris, police said on Tuesday. The unrest broke out after an officer killed a 17-year-old man during a traffic stop.
The altercation occurred on Tuesday morning. According to police, the young man was shot after failing to comply and attempting to ram an officer with his car.
A video filmed by a witness shows that two officers had stopped a yellow Mercedes AMG. While one officer was standing outside the window and giving orders to the driver, his colleague stood next to him and was pointing a handgun at the driver.
The car suddenly moved forward, prompting the officer to fire a single shot. The Mercedes crashed into a pole and the driver died despite efforts to resuscitate him.
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The prosecutor’s office said that the driver was known for having refused to comply during a traffic stop on a previous occasion.
Hours after the incident, around 50 people held a protest outside the Nanterre police station, BFM TV reported. In other parts of the neighborhood, rioters smashed bus stops, set garbage containers on fire, and torched several vehicles.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said that an investigation was launched into the shooting. A separate investigation was launched on suspicion of refusing to comply and attempting to cause harm to a police officer.
