The three police officers who fired on Saturday in Paris during a check on a car that allegedly drove into them, shooting the passenger and seriously injuring the driver, were released from police custody on Tuesday without legal proceedings at this stage, according to their lawyer.
“After two days in police custody during which my clients fully cooperated with the investigators, they are released free of any charges (…). The investigation will continue in another form and they will give all the elements of the answer so that the truth is fully revealed, ”Me Laurent-Franck Liénard told AFP. “They have nothing to hide and will demonstrate their respect for the rules and the legitimacy of their action,” he added.
They had been placed in police custody on Sunday in the premises of the general police inspectorate (IGPN), for “violence having led to an ITT (total interruption of work) of more than eight days with a weapon by person depositary of the public authority” and “violence resulting in death without intention to cause death by a person holding public authority”. At the same time, another investigation is opened for “attempted homicide on a person holding public authority”, but the driver, seriously injured by a bullet in the chest, has not been able to be heard by the judicial police so far.
“My friend put the first one back on and started again after the shots,” assured a passenger.
The facts took place in the 18th arrondissement late Saturday morning, when mountain bike officials wanted to control “a car with four passengers, one of whom was not wearing his seatbelt,” said a police source. As they approached, the car fled. A little further on, as the police again tried to control him, the driver allegedly drove off and “ran” into the officers who, according to the police, used their weapons and hit the driver and a female passenger.
Nine cartridges would have been fired, but additional ballistic expertise should take place. The two rear passengers were not hit. They have since been heard by investigators. One of them told RTL that the driver, without a license, had “advanced a little” and “did not stop” when a police officer ordered him to. The vehicle ended up in “a kind of traffic jam” and shots were fired. “My friend put the first one back on and started again after the shots,” assured this man. The driver was serving a sentence and benefiting from a semi-freedom arrangement, according to a source close to the investigation.
The driver was taken into custody. An investigation was opened for “attempted homicide of a person holding public authority and refusal to comply, aggravated by the endangerment of others, driving despite cancellation of the driving license and driving under the influence of a alcoholic state and after having used substances classified as narcotics”, announced the Paris prosecutor and Laure Beccuau in a press release.