Police officer charged after firing Cougar launcher at 14-year-old schoolboy
A police officer has been charged with violence resulting in permanent injury after firing a projectile at the face of a teenager during a blockade at Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône. The prosecution rejected the self-defence argument invoked by the officer.
Charges and prohibition from duty
The police officer who seriously injured the face of a 14-year-old schoolboy with a Cougar launcher shot was charged last Tuesday with "violence by a person holding public authority followed by mutilation or permanent disability". According to Actu17, the incident occurred on 28 September during a blockade outside the Château d'Épluches vocational secondary school in Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône, in Val-d'Oise. The officer was placed under judicial supervision with a prohibition from exercising his duties until further notice, the Pontoise public prosecutor's office announced.
Disputed facts
According to the police officer's statements during custody, he used his weapon "in the face of the schoolboy's resistance as he persisted in approaching his group". The officer also stated that he saw the teenager "kick the upper part of his female colleague's leg" and "raise his arm towards her helmet". The prosecution rejected this self-defence argument, considering that "the conditions (are) not met" due to "the lack of proportionality in the use" of the Cougar launcher.
Extent of injuries
Eden lost several teeth and suffered a fractured mandible that required surgery. According to the prosecution, he underwent an operation and has broken upper teeth and lower teeth that were knocked out. According to his mother, as reported by Actu17, the young man had "his heart broken" and his jaw was "sealed" after the injuries, forcing him to eat with a straw.
Legal framework
The prosecutor of the Republic of Pontoise, Guirec Le Bras, recalled that "facts of aggravated voluntary violence resulting in mutilation or permanent disability, a criminal qualification, are punishable by a sentence of 15 years' imprisonment". The police officer therefore faces a severe conviction.
Parallel investigations
Two investigations have been opened. The first was entrusted to the IGPN, the general inspection of the national police, which deployed immediately. The second, relating to violence against a person holding public authority, was entrusted to the Cergy police station. Eden's family filed a complaint, notably targeting attempted wilful murder and voluntary violence with a weapon committed by persons holding public authority against a minor under 15 years of age.
Video evidence
Videos filmed by several witnesses, widely circulated on social media, show a partial account of events. They show the teenager approaching three police officers in riot gear. A female police officer strikes him with a tonfa to push him away. The young man responds with a kick before a second police officer fires his Cougar launcher, hitting the schoolboy in the face.
Source: Actu17