We know a little more this Wednesday evening, on the circumstances which led a police officer to open fire on a motorist, resulting in the death of this one, this Wednesday morning around 4 am, in Saint-Yrieix-sur-Charente, in the suburbs of Angoulême (Charente).
Why did the police want to intercept this driver?
The Angoulême prosecutor’s office indicates that a night police patrol spotted around 4 a.m., avenue de Lattre de Tassigny in Angoulême, “a zigzagging Peugeot 307 vehicle, light signals on. The police decide to check him. “Invited to park, the driver refuses to comply, the vehicle is then taken over at reduced speed in the direction of the Saint-Cybard district”, explains prosecutor Stéphanie Aouine. Another police patrol, arrived in support, tries for the first time to intercept it. The driver accelerates and takes the direction of Saint Yrieix, then the vehicle stops at a red light, at the corner of the Royan road and the RN10 interchange. “The two police vehicles then positioned themselves to arrest the driver. »
Why did one of the policemen open fire?
A policeman sets up the Interception Device for Motor Vehicles (Diva), but “the driver engages reverse gear”. He then moved forward, turning his wheels to the left, “directing the nose of the vehicle towards another policeman who was approaching him to arrest him. “This policeman, hit in the legs during this maneuver, “simultaneously uses his service weapon once. The driver continued on his way, his vehicle passed over the Diva and punctured the two tires on the right side. Some 150 meters further, it deviates its trajectory and ends its course in the wall of a house. “It was while arresting him that the police noticed a gunshot wound to the upper body,” continues the public prosecutor. Emergency services are called immediately, but resuscitation maneuvers remain unsuccessful. “The death is recorded at 4:25 am. The injured policeman was taken care of by the emergency services and transported to the Angoulême hospital center
Who was this motorist?
He is a 20-year-old young man born in Guinea, living in Angoulême. “He was unknown to the police and justice services” assures the Angoulême prosecution. “Checks are underway regarding the administrative situation of his vehicle. »
What legal follow-up will be given to the case?
Technical observations were made on the spot during the morning, in the presence in particular of the medical examiner of the Medico-Legal Institute of Poitiers and the personnel of the Judicial Identification. Two procedures have been opened: one relating to facts qualified at this stage as refusal to comply and violence with a weapon entrusted to the Limoges judicial police, the other on the count of intentional homicide entrusted to the General Inspectorate of the national police (IGPN) of Bordeaux. Hearings are underway. The autopsy of the deceased will be performed on Thursday.