Three police officers have been taken into custody after fatal shots were fired during a police check in Paris. It was not until April that there were deaths in a similar incident in the city.
The officials – two men and a woman – have been questioned by the IGPN police force responsible for internal investigations since Sunday afternoon on suspicion of “armed violence by an official”, the prosecutor said. They could be held in custody for up to 48 hours.
The three police officers shot the occupants of a car on Saturday, which they said had raced towards them during a check. The driver was seriously injured by the shots, a woman who was hit in the head succumbed to her injuries on Sunday evening, according to investigative circles. The driver was no longer in mortal danger by the evening.
Regarding the arrest of the three police officers, the prosecutor said: “This measure was taken because of the seriousness of the consequences of the shots fired and to check the circumstances of the use of their weapons.”
The two car occupants who survived uninjured in the back seat were also questioned, according to information from investigative circles. In addition, the attempted killing of officials is being investigated. Several of the vehicle occupants were already known to the police, it said. According to their own statements, they had consumed alcohol and cannabis before the incident. According to police sources, the reason for the check was that one of the occupants of the car had not put on the seat belt.
A month and a half ago, a police officer in Paris was charged with premeditated homicide after a similar incident. He is accused of shooting the driver and another occupant of a car with an automatic weapon on the night of April 25. The officer and his colleagues wanted to check the car when it drove off.
Saturday’s incident drew sharp criticism. “Another unacceptable abuse of power,” wrote the head of the left party La France Insoumise (LFI), Jean-Luc Mélenchon, on Saturday evening in the online service Zwitter. “The death penalty for refusing to obey an order. Does the prefect approve? Does the minister congratulate you?” the party leader added.
