The Nice prosecutor’s office announces that a 17-year-old teenager is suspected of having set up an ambush against a reservist police officer Tuesday evening in a disadvantaged area of the city, with three other young people, including two 12-year-olds. The police officer was attacked while he was at a bus stop, in civilian clothes after the end of his shift.
A 17-year-old teenager is suspected of having set up an ambush against a reservist police officer Tuesday evening in a deprived area of Nice, with three other young people, including two 12-year-olds, the prosecution announced on Thursday. The young man was referred Thursday as part of a judicial investigation for “attempted homicide with ambush on a person holding public authority”, said the public prosecutor, Damien Martinelli, in a press release. His placement in pre-trial detention was requested.
The police officer was in plain clothes at a bus stop
The investigation quickly focused on four minors: two 17-year-olds were placed in police custody, two 12-year-olds were detained for 12 hours, specifies the press release from the prosecution. The reservist police officer was attacked while he was at a bus stop, in civilian clothes after the end of his shift, near the Ariane police station, in the north-east of Nice. Hit several times in the legs and arms by shots from mortar-type pyrotechnic devices, he also received a projectile in the head but was able to take refuge at the police station.
“A few bruises and burned clothes, but a significant emotional shock,” summarized the National Union of Operational Reserve, which called for “an exemplary criminal response”. According to the first elements of the investigation, “the police officer was expected by this group and targeted because of his quality in a context of arrests which took place in the afternoon”, added the Nice prosecutor.