Anger in Paris after police kill teen who refused traffic stop

Protests and unrest erupted in the French capital overnight after police shot dead a 17-year-old who failed to stop when ordered to by traffic police.

Video circulating on social media shows a police officer pointing a gun at the driver of a car, before a gunshot is heard. The car then crashes to a stop.

The teenager, named as Naël M, died of bullet wounds in the chest despite help from emergency services.

The officer accused of shooting him has been detained on homicide charges.

According to newspaper Le Monde, police initially suggested the teen drove his car towards them with the intention of hurting them.

But footage posted online, verified by AFP news agency, tells a different story.

It shows two officers trying to stop the vehicle. One points his weapon at the driver through the window and appears to fire at point-blank range as he tries to drive off.

The agency also reports that a person in the video can be heard saying “you’re going to be shot in the head” – but it is unclear who says it.

Two others were in the car at the time of the shooting – of whom one fled while another, also a minor, was arrested and held by police.

The shooting triggered a series of protests on Tuesday night in Nanterre, the area just west of Paris where the teenager was killed.

Cars and rubbish bins were set alight, and bus shelters destroyed. Fireworks were also set off near the police station. Riot police used tear gas to break up protesters, some of whom created barricades throughout the night.

Twenty people were arrested following the disorder.

Several incidents of unrest were also recorded in the towns of Asnières, Colombes, Suresnes, Aubervilliers, Clichy-sous-Bois and Mantes-la-Jolie.

Authorities have opened two separate investigations following the teen’s death – one into a possible killing by a public official, and another into the driver’s failure to stop his vehicle and alleged attempt to kill a police officer.

Paris police chief Laurent Nuñez told French television station BFMTV that the policeman’s actions “raises questions”, though he suggested the officer may have felt threatened.

The 17-year-old’s family lawyer Yassine Bouzrou insisted that was an illegitimate defence, telling the same channel the video “clearly showed a policeman killing a young man in cold blood”.

He added that the family had filed a complaint against police for “lying” – after initially claiming the car had tried to run down the officers.

Another lawyer representing the victim’s family, Jennifer Cambla, told local media that nothing could justify what had happened, and described the death as an “execution”.

France’s Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin on Tuesday said the video shared on social media was “extremely shocking”.

He urged people to “respect the grief of the family and the presumption of innocence of the police”.

Left-wing leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon expressed his “heartfelt condolences” to the family of the teen. “No officer has the right to kill unless in self-defence,” he wrote in a tweet.

“This uncontrolled police force discredits the authority of the state. It needs to be completely overhauled,” he added.

Two weeks ago, a 19-year-old driver was shot dead by police in the western France town of Angouleme, after allegedly hitting an officer in the legs during a traffic stop.

Last year, a record 13 people died from police shootings in France during traffic stops, according to Reuters news agency. The death of Naël M is the second this year.