Naël, a 17-year-old teenager, was killed by police shooting in Nanterre, this Tuesday, June 27, 2023. While a video seems to overwhelm the shooter, two investigations have been opened…
This Tuesday, June 27, 2023, around 8:30 a.m., a 17-year-old teenager was killed during a traffic check in Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine). A policeman used his weapon on this young man driving a Mercedes. The arrival of help did not save the life of this boy who was declared dead at 9:16 a.m. “following at least one gunshot wound”, according to the Nanterre prosecutor’s office.
A minor passenger of the vehicle was arrested while another is on the run. The first information advanced a “refusal to comply” on the part of the driver according to police sources with France info. The same sources indicate that the driver, named Naël according to his lawyer, ran into one of the peacekeepers who then fired. But a video taken by a witness and published on social networks has upset this case.
The video of the shots fired by the police on a teenager in Nanterre
What happened in Nanterre this Tuesday?
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 appeared to restart that the armed police officer shot him, according to footage 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.
Where is the investigation into the death of the teenager?
The teenager’s family lawyer, Yassine Bouzrou, announced the filing of three complaints: one for “intentional homicide”, targeting the offending police officer, another against his colleague and a third for “false 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”. Forty people have already gathered at the beginning of the afternoon on Tuesday, near the scene of the tragedy, tears in their eyes, to share their “anger”.