The French police officer accused of shooting teenager Nahel M, 17, sparking violent riots in many parts of France, has reportedly claimed he did so to save his colleague.
The youngster’s death and resulting widespread unrest across the European nation, led many on the French Left to suggest the incident was a case of racism and police brutality.
However, according to leaked reports seen by Le Parisien, the suspected officer, named as Florian M, claimed he fired at Nahel out of fear for his colleague’s safety.
In an interview with police investigators said to have taken place just hours after the incident, Florian said that he shot the teen as he believed his fellow officer was in serious danger of being dragged away by the car being driven by the youth.
Detailing the lead-up to the fatal shooting, the law enforcement officer described how he and his colleague initially spotted a yellow Mercedes “driving in the bus lane” with its engine “roaring”.
Attempts to stop the car – driven by Nahel and containing two passengers – were initially unsuccessful, with Florian describing the vehicle as driving off “at full speed” despite the law enforcement officials flagging for it to stop.
The policemen managed to catch up with the car when it became stuck in a traffic jam a few hundred metres away at which point, Florian says, he levelled his firearm at the driver, yelling at him to turn off the vehicle’s engine, while repeatedly banging on the windscreen.
He says he then saw his colleague leaning into the vehicle in an apparent attempt to turn off the car himself.
Florian goes on to describe discharging his firearm as Nahel accelerated once again, saying that he feared he could be crushed between the car and the wall behind him.
He added, according to the newspaper article, that his main concern was for his colleague, whom he believed was in danger of being dragged along by the Mercedes when it began to move off, because he was leaning into it.
That was reportedly downplayed by his colleague, who told investigators that only his arm was in the car at the time.
Footage of the incident also appears to show him moving away from the vehicle once Nahel began to accelerate.
Among other issues highlighted, Florian is also said to have emphasised to investigators that it was his “ninth consecutive working day” when the shooting occurred.
Since then, cities across France have been plagued by intense rioting, with demonstrators attacking police stations, setting fire to vehicles and confronting law enforcement officers with fireworks and other missiles.
The outbreaks of mass violence have prompted a backlash, with many on the Right linking the unrest to mass-migration.
French Government MPs have dismissed such sentiments, with Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin claiming on Wednesday that many native French people were also involved in the rioting.
“I went to about 15 police stations in four days, at night,” the minister said. “The first thing I do when I go to the guardhouse is to ask for the list of people in custody and what they did.”
Darmanin went on to say that while many of the names on the lists of suspects “could be of immigrant origin”, there were also plenty of French names, such as “Kevin and Mattéo” among those arrested.
As such, he insisted that linking the riots and ethnic background would be “very wrong”.
The minister also dismissed suggestions that tightening immigration laws would improve the situation, arguing that many rioters were second- or third-generation descendants of immigrants, who had been “born under the presidency of Jacques Chirac”.
Curbing foreign inflows now would be “too late”, he said.
