France shooting: Fresh unrest over police killing of teen

Thousands of extra security forces are facing a second night of unrest in France after a 17-year-old driver was shot and killed by police near Paris on Tuesday during a traffic check.

The teenager, named as Nahel M, was shot at point-blank range as he drove off and crashed soon afterwards.

Paris police said they had contained "sporadic episodes" of fresh violence.

In Toulouse, protesters started a fire and threw stones at firefighters as they tried to put it out.

Demonstrators also clashed with police in the northern city of Lille.

In the western town of Rennes, about 300 people gathered to pay tribute to the teen - many of whom also lit fires and were dispersed by police to allow firefighters to put out the blazes, local media reported.

• Analysis: Why French government backed shot teenager's family

French President Emmanuel Macron said the shooting of Nahel was "unforgivable".

But his comments drew an angry reaction from police unions, who accused him of rushing to judge the officers involved.

The Alliance Police union called for them to be presumed innocent until found guilty, while the rival Unité SGP Police also spoke of political interventions that encouraged "anti-cop hatred".

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said he would be taking legal action against another group, France Police, after it published what he called an "unacceptable and abject" tweet seeking to justify the teenager's killing.

The now deleted tweet said "bravo" to the officers who "opened fire on a young criminal" and blamed the teen's parents for his death, claiming they had been "unable to educate their son".

Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne also weighed in, saying the police intervention "manifestly did not conform to the rules".

Nahel's mother Mounia, speaking in a social media video, said they had taken away her baby and urged people to join a march in remembrance of her son.

"He was still a child. He needed his mother," she said. "He kissed me goodbye in the morning and said, 'I love you mum'.

"An hour later, I was told that someone shot my son. What shall I do? He was my life. He was everything to me."

The officer accused of killing him, who said he had fired because he felt his life was in danger, is in custody on charges of voluntary manslaughter.

Nahel, who a neighbour says came from a French-Algerian family, is the second person this year in France to have been killed in a police shooting during a traffic stop. Last year, a record 13 people died in this way.

Rights groups have criticised a 2017 law change which broadened the framework for when officers can use firearms.

Citing official statistics, Le Monde newspaper reported that the annual number of police shootings at moving vehicles has consistently been higher since the change.

Campaigner Rokhaya Diallo told BFMTV that more shots fired meant a higher risk of being hit, especially for people of colour.

Reuters news agency found that a majority of victims of lethal police shootings during traffic stops since 2017 were black or Arab.

Firefighters extinguish a burning vehicle in Nanterre following protests in the wake of Nahel's death

According to French media, police initially suggested the teen drove his car towards them with the intention of hurting them.

But footage posted online and verified by the AFP news agency shows an officer pointing his weapon at the driver through his window and appearing 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. One fled while another, also a minor, was arrested and held by police.

"Nothing justifies the death of a young person," President Macron told reporters in Marseille, calling for "calm for justice to be done".

"I would like to express the feelings of the entire nation at what has happened and the death of young Nahel, and to tell his family of our solidarity and the nation's affection."

"We have a teenager who has been killed. It's inexplicable, unforgivable," he said, adding that the the case was immediately referred to the courts where he hoped justice would "do its job quickly".

The president's remarks were meant to calm a potentially inflammable atmosphere in Nanterre, near the La Défense business district, and other Paris suburbs, where the killing of Nahel has triggered strong emotions.

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 the alleged attempt to kill a police officer.

Paris police chief Laurent Nuñez told French television station BFMTV that the policeman's actions "raise 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".