one dead and one seriously injured after refusing to comply during a roadside check in Vénissieux

The police opened fire on a car reported stolen overnight from Thursday to Friday in Vénissieux (Rhône), killing the passenger and seriously injuring the driver in the head, after he ran into the police who were trying to control him, learned franceinfo from police sources. The Lyon public prosecutor’s office confirmed this information in a press release.

The vehicle was stopped with its engine running in the parking lot of a Carrefour supermarket this Friday morning shortly after midnight, when the police approached to carry out a check, according to the police. The driver then drove off, reversed and then ran into one of the police officers, who ended up on the bonnet.

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At the same time, this official and another officer fired “Many times” on the car, according to the prosecution, affecting the driver and his passenger. The vehicle ended its race a hundred meters further.

The Lyon public prosecutor’s office has opened two investigations. One for “receiving theft”, “aggravated refusal to comply” and “violence with a weapon against law enforcement officers”, which was entrusted to the Departmental Directorate of Public Security of the Rhône. The second, opened for “violence with a weapon by persons holding public authority resulting in death without the intention of giving it”, was entrusted to the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN). The investigation will have to determine at what exact moment and under what precise circumstances the shots were fired.

Two police officers are in custody at the IGPN this Friday morning, according to a police source at franceinfo and the Lyon prosecutor’s office. These are the two officers who used their service weapon. Their hearing by the IGPN corresponds to the usual procedure, each time a police officer uses his weapon.