Beauvais: man aged 35 shot dead by police after firing on officers
A man aged 35 was killed by police on Saturday morning in Beauvais after opening fire on police officers. An officer was wounded in the arm.
Fatal shooting in Beauvais: man shot dead, police officer wounded
A man aged 35 was killed by police officers on Saturday 19 September in the morning in Beauvais (Oise), after firing repeatedly on law enforcement who had arrived at his home. According to oisehebdo.fr, a police officer was wounded in the arm during the intervention.
The incident began between 5 and 7 in the morning. Several witnesses reported to law enforcement an individual travelling on a motorcycle through the streets of the town, described as particularly threatening. According to the initial details communicated by the prosecutor's office, the man had allegedly fired repeatedly with a handgun from his two-wheeler.
He was quickly identified thanks to the town's CCTV system. Beauvais police then located his home and intervened around 8 in the morning.
On their arrival, law enforcement attempted to enter the property. It was at this moment that one or more shots were fired in the direction of the police, wounding one of them in the arm.
The officers first sought to neutralise the individual, described by the prosecutor's office as "rather agitated" and threatening. After the standard warnings and use of an electroshock weapon, they ultimately used their service weapons. According to the Public Prosecutor of Beauvais, Nicolas Septe, the police officers had previously "come under fire on several occasions, which the investigation will need to determine".
After emergency services attended to him following the intervention, the man died shortly afterwards. Members of his family were also in the property at the time of the incident; none of them were injured, the prosecutor specified.
According to the initial details communicated by the prosecutor's office, the individual had allegedly left the psychiatric hospital in Clermont-de-l'Oise the day before the incident. The prosecutor's office emphasises, however, that investigations are still ongoing and that this element will need to be placed in context by investigators.
Two judicial investigations have been opened. The first concerns acts of violence and threats with a weapon committed against residents, as well as attempted murder against the police officers; it has been assigned to Beauvais police station. The second concerns the circumstances in which the police officers used their weapons; it is being conducted by the DCOS in Creil, jointly with the General Inspection of the National Police (IGPN) in Lille.
Nicolas Septe has already praised "the speed and composure of the police officers who intervened to apprehend this aggressive individual". Forensic and scientific police operations are underway, and the various witnesses are being interviewed. The prosecutor indicates that "further communications could be issued in the coming hours once the initial investigative findings have been analysed".
Source: Le Monde - Justice