NANTERRE, France (AP) — A police officer in a Paris suburb was handed a preliminary charge of voluntary homicide Thursday after the deadly shooting of a 17-year-old that triggered two nights of riots, as the French government vowed to restore order and crack down on rioting that has spread to other cities.
The legal action came as police forces were quadrupled to quell the violence that has spread beyond the suburbs, bus and tram service was being curtailed, and one town announced a curfew through the weekend.
Nanterre prosecutor Pascal Prache said his initial investigation led him to conclude “the conditions for the legal use of the weapon were not met” in the shooting.
The teen, identified only by his first name, Nahel, was killed during a traffic stop in Nanterre on Tuesday. The shooting captured on video shocked the country and stirred up long-simmering tensions between police and young people in housing projects and other disadvantaged neighborhoods.
Under French law, preliminary charges mean investigating judges have strong reason to suspect wrongdoing, but allow time for further investigation before a decision is made on whether to send the case to trial. The police officer has been placed in provisional detention, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Ministers fanned out to areas scarred by the sudden flare-up of rioting, appealing for calm but also warning that the violence that injured scores of police and damaged nearly 100 public buildings wouldn’t be allowed to continue.
After a morning crisis meeting, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said police forces would be expanded from 9,000 officers to 40,000. In the Paris region alone, the number of officers deployed would more than double to 5,000.
