Will these announcements be able to reduce tensions in the street? While urban violence broke out again on Wednesday evening in several cities in France following the death of Nahel, killed by police fire, the investigation is ongoing. The public prosecutor of Nanterre delivered several elements of context on the tragedy, Thursday in front of the press. Pascal Prache also requested the provisional detention of the police officer suspected in the case. Update on his statements.
The circumstances of the tragedy
During his press conference, Pascal Prache detailed the circumstances of the tragedy, thanks to the “first information immediately collected on the spot” by “hearings of witnesses, including that of the passenger who was found, exploitation of video surveillance images and amateur videos posted on social networks […] and statements by the police officers involved who were heard on several occasions, including in the context of a confrontation,” he said.
According to the first elements of the investigation, the two police officers on motorcycles wanted to check the car which was traveling at high speed on Tuesday morning “on a bus lane” in Nanterre and “in view of the apparent young age of the occupants of the vehicle”, said he describes. They signaled to the driver to stop at a red light, but he started again “by running through the red light”. “Several elements show several violations of the Highway Code, in particular crossings of pedestrian crossings endangering a pedestrian and a cyclist”, underlined the prosecutor. The car, with three occupants inside, “continued on its way” followed by the two bikers, before getting stuck in traffic, according to the magistrate. The two police officers then dismounted and “yelled to the driver to stop” by positioning themselves “on the left side” of the car, “one at the level of the driver’s door, the other near the ‘left front wing’, according to the prosecutor.
During their hearings, they said they “both took out their weapons” and “pointed them at the driver to dissuade him from restarting by asking him to cut the ignition”, he said. “As the vehicle restarted, the policeman located near the wing of the vehicle shot the driver once”, fatally hitting him. The vehicle continued on its way […] before embedding itself in an element of street furniture at 8.19 am”. According to Pascal Prache, the official responsible for the shooting provided first aid to the driver before the arrival of the firefighters. “Despite these efforts, the death was confirmed at 9:15 a.m. »
Two open investigations
Two investigations “for flagrance” were opened by the Nanterre prosecutor’s office. The first, for refusing to comply and for attempted intentional homicide of a person holding public authority, concerns the 17-year-old young man and was entrusted to the Nanterre police station and the territorial security of Hauts-de-Seine. . The second, opened simultaneously for intentional homicide by a person holding public authority, is aimed at the police officer in question. This investigation was entrusted to the IGPN.
“The objective of these two separate investigations is to objectify all the circumstances which led to the death of the young driver of the vehicle, these qualifications were also initially retained by the prosecution”, specified the magistrate.
The profile of the victim
Nahel, 17, was born in 2006 and was “known to the justice services for acts of refusal to comply, assured the prosecutor. The last having given rise to a presentation of the minor before the parquet floor of Nanterre on Sunday June 25 with a view to a summons before the juvenile court in September 2023”.
Support from the Hauts-de-Seine victim support association was requested by the prosecution to support the relatives of the deceased “who are going through dramatic times”, added Pascal Prache. The report of the autopsy carried out on June 28 in the morning “reports a death due to a single shot having crossed the left arm and the thorax from left to right”, he specified. No narcotics or dangerous objects were found in the vehicle.
Detention of requested police officer
As soon as the investigations were opened, the “police shooter handed over his service weapon, was taken to hospital and then taken to the premises of the IGPN to be heard on the facts”, continued the Nanterre prosecutor, before to announce the opening of a judicial investigation for intentional homicide targeting the police officer who fired the shot and requested his placement in detention.
“The prosecution considers that the legal conditions for the use of the weapon [par le policier] are not met”, estimated in front of the press the magistrate, Pascal Prache, adding that the police officer was presented before two investigating judges for the purposes of indictment. “In view of the facts and the need to preserve the investigations, the prosecution requested his placement in pre-trial detention”, underlined the prosecutor.