DIRECT. The circumstances of the death of Naël M., killed in Nanterre by two shots from a policeman on Tuesday June 27, must be clarified. The officer in question is suspected of intentional homicide.
The essential
- Naël, 17, died Tuesday, June 27, killed by police fire, in Nanterre, after refusing to comply.
- According to the agents’ account, the young man drove his car into the policeman who shot the young man, a version contradicted by a video taken by a witness.
- The police officer in question was taken into custody, the IGPN suspects him of intentional homicide. The agent risks a heavy prison sentence according to the charges, he is currently presumed innocent.
- Many incidents occurred last night in Nanterre and in the Yvelines, with fires starting in the streets and scuffles. The police headquarters, meanwhile, reported nine arrests, 24 police officers were slightly injured.
- Naël M.’s mother spoke on social networks last night, from Assa Traoré’s Instagram account. “He was still a child, he needed his mother. They took a baby away from me,” she lamented.
- Another video of the confrontation between the police and the young man was posted on social networks. All images must be analyzed by investigators and magistrates.
Live
09:31 – Naël M.’s mother left a message on Assa Traoré’s Instagram
“I lost a 17-year-old child, I was alone with him, they took a baby away from me. He was still a child, he needed his mother. This morning he gave me a big kiss he said to me ‘Mom I love you’. I told him ‘I love you take care of yourself’, reacted this night the mother of Naël M. on a live Instagram of Assa Traoré, who militates against police violence since the death of his brother Adama Traoré during an arrest by the gendarmes in 2016. “I gave him everything, so that a son of a bitch would take my son away from me. “one, I don’t have ten, I only have one. It was my life, it was my best friend, it was my son, it was everything to me,” he said. she adds.
09:22 – Omar Sy: “May justice worthy of the name honor the memory of this child”
The French actor posted an old photo of Naël on Twitter last night, in a post seen at the time of this writing by 1.8 million people. “My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and loved ones of Naël, who died at the age of 17 this morning, killed by a policeman in Nanterre”, he wrote above the photo of the young man, sporting on the image a smile. And to add: “May justice worthy of the name honor the memory of this child”.
09:14 – Update on the ongoing investigation
Asked on CNews this morning about the questioning of the police officer, the prefect of police recalled the presumption of innocence of the police officer. On the question of self-defense and suspicion of colonial homicide, Laurent Nunez replied: “I have no comment to make, there is a judicial investigation”.
Yesterday evening, the prosecution announced that the police officer who shot Naël M. had been placed in police custody for “intentional homicide”. In this case, two investigations were opened. One for refusing to comply and attempted homicide on a person holding public authority. The other, for intentional homicide, this time concerns the policeman. It was entrusted to the IGPN.
In its press release, the prosecution also indicated that “the blood alcohol screening operations and the consumption of narcotic products were carried out and proved to be negative”. As for the autopsy of Naël M., it will be held this Wednesday, June 28. “An autopsy and additional examinations, particularly in terms of toxicology, have been ordered and must be carried out”, specifies the press release. Finally, it should be noted that the police custody of the first passenger was lifted this afternoon, following his hearing. On the other hand, the third and last passenger, who was present in the Mercedes at the time of the tragedy and who fled in stride, is “still wanted”.
09:06 – Footballer Kilian Mbappe speaks on his Twitter account
The captain of the France team wrote a short commentary on the Naël M affair, moving about the situation and suggesting that the policeman killed the young man in a context that is not that of self-defense . “I hurt my France. An unacceptable situation. All my thoughts go out to the family and loved ones of Naël, this little angel who left much too soon.”, he wrote.
09:02 – The prefect of police of Paris speaks: “If there is fault, there will be sanction”
Questioned this Wednesday, June 28, at the microphone of CNews, the prefect of police of Paris, Laurent Nuñez, gave some elements on what has been established by the current investigation: “The two bikers, assigned to a mission to control the urban rodeos, see three individuals in a vehicle committing offences.After a first refusal to comply, the vehicle is stuck in traffic, then there is the control and this gunshot. […] This gesture appeals to me. The investigation must shed light on the circumstances of this check, on what happened just before, what happened in the passenger compartment. The presumption of innocence must be respected. […] If there is a fault, there will be a sanction,” he said.
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The video of the shots fired by the police at a teenager in Nanterre
What happened in Nanterre this Tuesday, June 27?
The context of the incident that took place in Nanterre is still rather vague. According to the first elements, the driver of the car allegedly committed several traffic offenses in the morning before being approached by two police officers on motorcycles around 8:30 a.m., near the Nanterre-Préfecture RER station, near the Place Nelson-Mandela, behind the La Défense business district.
The vehicle is then at the François-Arago passage stop. On the video that has been looping since mid-afternoon on the networks and in several media, we see the two police officers, members of the territorial traffic and road safety company of 92, with the yellow sedan, on the driver’s side, where the window is lowered. Several words are exchanged as an officer takes aim at the young man behind the wheel.
It was when the driver seemed to restart that the armed police officer shot him, according to the images authenticated by AFP. The car escapes then will stop a few tens of meters further by embedding itself in a post. The young man was pronounced dead at 9:16 a.m. According to the first elements of the investigation reported by police sources to AFP, the driver of the vehicle, a Mercedes AMG which had been rented, had committed several traffic violations. At the sight of police motorcyclists, he first stopped, before accelerating.
At first, police sources claimed that the vehicle ran into the police. “This vehicle made a first refusal to comply and then was blocked in the flow of traffic”, said the prefect of police of Paris, Laurent Nuñez, on BFMTV in the afternoon. “The official may have felt threatened,” he said.
The 17-year-old young man, who lost his life on Tuesday June 27, 2023 in Nanterre following a refusal to comply during a police check in Nanterre, was called Naël M. Born in 2006, the teenager was known to the police for driving without a license, but also refusing to comply. The young man is however described as “a lovely boy” by a neighbor. “It was a cream,” she told the Parisian, specifying that Naël M. was the only child of his mother. The teenager lived in the Salvador-Allende district and was a delivery man.
Where is the investigation into the death of the teenager?
In its press release published Tuesday, June 27 at the start of the evening, the prosecution indicated that the police officer who fatally touched Naël M. in Nanterre was placed in police custody for “intentional homicide”. For his part, the passenger who had not fled was released from police custody at the end of his hearing, at the start of the afternoon. The third passenger, who had taken to his heels, is for his part “still wanted”, it was specified. Concerning the blood alcohol screening operations and the consumption of narcotics, these were “carried out and proved to be negative”, informed the public prosecutor’s office, which also announced that “an autopsy and additional examinations, in particular in matters of toxicology have been ordered and must be carried out” Wednesday, June 28.
Earlier in the day, the teenager’s family lawyer, Yassine Bouzrou, had announced the filing of three complaints: one for “voluntary homicide”, targeting the offending police officer, another against his colleague and a third for ” false in public writing”. He believes that the police “lied this morning by saying that young Naël’s vehicle had tried to hit them” and that “the video formally denies what the police said”.
Two flagrance investigations were opened by the Nanterre prosecutor’s office. The Nanterre police station and the Hauts-de-Seine Territorial Security were entrusted with that for refusal to comply and attempted intentional homicide on a person holding public authority. The IGPN was seized for intentional homicide by a person holding public authority. The prosecution clarified that the young man who died was known to the justice services in particular for driving without a license and refusing to comply.
Many reactions, a safety device in Nanterre
The victim’s grandmother spoke about BFM TV during the day, believing that “it’s the police who […] killed” his 17-year-old grandson and that “they shot him in the heart”. The mayor of Nanterre, Patrick Jarry, for his part called for “calm”, despite “overwhelming” images. demanded “the whole truth and quickly”.
At the Assembly, the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin did the same in the afternoon on Tuesday, specifying that the police officers were heard by the justice services. “We do not know – except for the extremely shocking images that I have seen like many French people – the exact conditions”, he assured. Referring to “a drama”, he said he was “attached to the protection of the innocence of the accused, in particular of the one who shot and who will have to account for his actions”.
“This gesture calls out to me”, added the prefect of Police of Paris Laurent Nuñez on BFMTV who described an official “himself very shocked by this tragedy”. Laurent Nuñez indicated that a “security device” had been put in place in Nanterre “and will remain so for as long as necessary”. About forty people had already gathered at the beginning of the afternoon on Tuesday, near the scene of the tragedy, tears in their eyes, to share their “anger”. Tuesday evening, incidents took place in the early evening in Nanterre. Garbage cans and street furniture were set on fire. Seven people were arrested around 8 p.m. The forces of order were mobilized.