Beauvais: man shot dead by police after firing at passers-by, officer wounded
Ludovic Lavenette, 35, was killed by police on Saturday morning in Beauvais after threatening residents with a firearm. A police officer was wounded in the hand.
Shooting on Rue Aimé-Césaire: police shoot armed man following night of threats in Beauvais
Ludovic Lavenette, 35, was shot dead on Saturday 19 September at around 8am by a police response team in the Rue Aimé-Césaire district of Beauvais. According to courrier-picard.fr, which revealed the initial information relating to the Observateur de Beauvais, the man had spread terror throughout the town for several hours during the night, armed with a .22 long rifle handgun.
Between 5 and 7am, Lavenette was riding a motorcycle through the streets of Beauvais. He allegedly fired in the direction of a vehicle and threatened at least one passer-by, who fled and was still being sought at the time the initial information was published.
Identified by CCTV, intercepted at his home
Spotted thanks to the town's CCTV cameras, Ludovic Lavenette was located at his parents' home, at 9 Rue Aimé-Césaire. As officers entered the house, they came under fire several times. According to a source close to the investigation cited by courrier-picard.fr, the officers first used their electric shock weapon, without result. "The man was too agitated. Two officers then made use of their service weapons," the source stated. Lavenette died shortly afterwards from his injuries. One officer was struck in the hand; his life was not in danger. The exchange of gunfire took place in front of the deceased's parents.
Former soldier discharged from psychiatric care the previous day
Those who knew Ludovic Lavenette struggle to recognise the man described in the events. Laurine, whose partner was his best friend, recalls a meal shared in mid-August: "He was doing very well. He was completely normal." She reports that he had gone on sick leave shortly after, and that a friend had seen him ten days before the events without recognising him, so much weight he had lost.
Xavier Billal-Judith, a restaurateur in Beauvais, had seen him two weeks previously. "He seemed very agitated, not in his normal state," he says, before adding: "But he was a good person." A work colleague describes him simply as "a good guy".
According to sources close to the investigation, Lavenette, a former soldier and employee of Agco, suffered from severe depression and was not undergoing treatment at the time of the events. More disturbing still: he had just been released from psychiatric hospitalisation at CHI Clermont on Friday 18 September, the day before the incident. "How could he have been let out in that state?", asks one of his colleagues. The same sources mention a possible robbery committed a week before the events, during which the man is said to have made incoherent remarks.
Lavenette leaves behind a 12-year-old daughter. He lived in a common-law partnership in Beauvais town centre. His partner and parents were questioned by investigators on Saturday.
Two judicial inquiries opened, IGPN called in
The public prosecutor of Beauvais, Nicolas Septe, confirmed the opening of two separate judicial inquiries and the involvement of the IGPN. The first concerns "violence and threats with a weapon by the individual against residents as well as attempted murder of police officers" and has been entrusted to Beauvais police station. The second concerns "the use of weapons by police officers" and has been assigned to the judicial police in Creil, jointly with the IGPN services in Lille.
According to Nicolas Septe, these investigations will need to "determine the motives and motivations behind this individual's actions". He also stressed "the swift action and composure of the police officers who intervened to apprehend this aggressive individual".
On Saturday morning, Rue Aimé-Césaire was still cordoned off with police tape, officers controlling access to residents pending initial judicial findings.
Source: Google News LU FR