A 17-year-old, identified as Nahel M, was seen shot at close range by a French police officer on Tuesday which has sparked riots in the country.
The teen was shot at Paris’ Nelson Mandela Square, during a traffic stop. Several videos of the shooting have appeared online, recorded from different angles. In one, Nahel M’s yellow Mercedes could be seen with one of the officers saying in French: “I’m going to put a bullet in your head.” A second officer could then be heard saying, “Shoot!”
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In the second video, the moment of the shooting was captured in the rearview mirror of another shooting. The police could be seen fatally shooting the teenager as their pistol is raised and pointing toward Nahel’s head.
Nahel M died at the scene. His car could be seen rolling forward and halting after hitting a utility pole. There were two other people present in the car at the time. One of them spoke to law enforcement, while the other person fled the scene.
Nanterre prosecutor Pascal Prache said that the police officer responsible for the shooting fired his gun because he was afraid that the boy would run someone else over with the car. However, many people on social media have claimed that the officer was in no immediate threat from the teen to warrant a shooting.
Prache said that the officer allegedly acted illegally while discharging his weapon. He has been taken into custody and is currently facing a formal investigation for voluntary homicide.
After the shooting, France broke out in widespread protests for days. Protesters set fire to vehicles, climbed onto buildings, smashed windows, and demonstrated other forms of riots while the French police struggled to put an end to the chaos. Videos of the protests have already gone viral on the internet under the hashtag “France Has Fallen.”
