The policeman who killed two men suspected of having wanted to escape a police check Sunday evening on the Pont-Neuf in Paris has been indicted for “intentional homicide”, while he advances self-defense. Explanations.
The two investigating judges in charge of the investigation went further than the prosecutor’s requisitions: the police officer behind the shots was indicted for “intentional homicide” against the driver of the vehicle , for “deliberate violence by a person holding public authority resulting in death without the intention of giving it” concerning the passenger in the front of the car, and “aggravated willful violence by a person holding public authority” against the rear passenger.
They felt that at this stage of the investigation, there were serious indications that the moment the policeman started shooting at the driver of the car, he intended to kill him.
The accused emptied ten cartridges from his weapon
At the time of the incident, the police were about five meters from the vehicle which was then parked in the opposite direction, near the Pont-Neuf. As they approached to carry out a check, the driver allegedly started the vehicle to escape them, according to several witnesses, dragging in its tracks a policewoman clutching the door who was trying to prevent the escape of the vehicle.
That evening, according to information from CNEWS, the officer’s first shots were fired from the front by the 24-year-old policeman who was carrying an HK G36, a type of assault rifle that had been issued to crews after the 2015 attacks in order to be able to respond in the event of a terrorist attack with heavy weapons.
The accused fired ten cartridges at the vehicle with this weapon. If he is currently indicted for intentional homicide, the qualifications may be modified according to the elements of the investigation, which has only just begun.
union anger
For the police officers of the patrol, the young agent acted in a state of self-defense, a circumstance which has not however been retained for the moment by the magistrates. The investigation will therefore have to determine whether he actually acted in a state of self-defense, and whether the police officer’s response was proportional to the offense committed by the individuals on board the vehicle.
The police unions Alliance, UNSA and SGP Police Unit all three supported the indicted, and denounced or questioned this decision of the magistrates. Alliance also called for a demonstration on Monday May 2 to protest against this indictment, and to demand the “presumption of self-defense” by the police.