Shots in the heart of Paris rang out on Sunday evening. A man was shot dead by the police in the 10th arrondissement of the capital, after being “threatening” towards the police, the Paris prosecutor’s office and police sources told AFP. According to a source close to the case, the man was hit four times by two police officers. One fired once, the second three times, according to this source. The facts took place shortly after 8 p.m. near the Place de la République.
A security perimeter was quickly set up, at the intersection of Avenue de la République and Rue des Trois-Bornes. Police were taking samples there. The body, covered with a white sheet, had been placed out of sight under a white barnum.
Threats with a handgun
According to the first elements of the investigation which have yet to be verified, the man first threatened a dog with a handgun, said the source familiar with the matter. As two police officers on patrol approach him, he turns to them, pointing his gun at them. The police then opened fire, the source added. According to the first elements, “he does not seem to have uttered words in particular towards the police but was indeed threatening”, specified a police source. At this stage, no information on the identity of the victim has been given.
Witnesses, who saw the scene quite accurately, have yet to be heard. A consumer in her twenties, Elisa, who was at the “Le Timbaud” bar, a few tens of meters from the stage, told journalists on the spot: “I was on the terrace with a friend, we heard three shots and when we turned our heads, we saw a man on the ground”. “There were no cries”, added the young woman who could not see if the man “was armed”. “Two uniformed police officers approached. A man in civilian clothes took off his sweater and began CPR. Then an unmarked car, and the firefighters arrived, ”she further reported.
Two investigations have been opened. One for “attempted murder of a person holding public authority” was entrusted to the second district of the Paris judicial police and will have to clarify the motivations of the man, said the prosecution. The other, at the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN), concerns police shootings, and was opened for “willful violence resulting in death without intention to give it”.