Riots in Chambéry after death of driver shot in the head
Several districts of Chambéry experienced violence after a man in his twenties was found dying in a vehicle intercepted by police.
Driver shot in the head found in his vehicle, Chambéry erupts
During the night of Monday 7 to Tuesday 8 September, several districts of Chambéry were the scene of urban violence, according to nouvelobs.com. A return to calm was noted from Wednesday 9 September.
At around 19:45 on Monday, police intercepted a vehicle exhibiting dangerous driving behaviour. Shortly after a failure to comply, the driver brought his car to a halt. Officers then discovered a man in his twenties who was "slumped" on the passenger seat, with a pool of blood caused by a gunshot wound to the head, according to the prosecutor's office. The man, who "has some judicial antecedents", according to clarifications provided on Wednesday by the prosecutor to Agence France-Presse, died on Tuesday at hospital. An autopsy was to be carried out from Wednesday onwards in order to "determine more precisely the exact causes of death".
Urban violence affected the districts of Biollay, Chambéry-le-Haut and the neighbouring municipality of Cognin. The prefecture reported "several dozen determined individuals" who "set fire to, or attempted to set fire to, vehicles, rubbish bins, private buildings and public buildings". The Public Prosecutor of Chambéry, Xavier Sicot, indicated on Tuesday to AFP that the violence may, "subject to verification, have been the result of a 'rumour' linking" the driver's injury to the police intervention.
The damage was substantial. The Biollay social centre, already burnt during the 2023 riots, was completely destroyed by fire. An office of the social housing provider Cristal Habitat was "devastated" and a supermarket vandalised in these districts classified under urban policy programmes, despite their traditionally peaceful character. Six vehicles were moreover set on fire.
Initial investigations ruled out the theory of police gunfire: no ammunition from the forces of order was used and no trace of external gunfire was found on the vehicle, according to the prosecutor's office. The General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN) was called upon and is examining the hypotheses of suicide or accidental gunfire. When questioned about the possible presence of a handgun in the vehicle, the prosecutor's office neither "denied nor confirmed" this information at this stage.
The following night, from Tuesday to Wednesday, was "considerably calmer", according to the town hall, which justified this lull by the deployment of reinforcements: two companies of riot police and additional teams of municipal police. Limited incidents were nonetheless reported in the Laurier district — "two to three rubbish container fires, an attempted fire in a school courtyard, rapidly brought under control, some damage to the premises of another" — a summary confirmed by a source close to the case.
Source: Google News LU — Crime (fr)