In Marseille, the defense of municipal police officers was tried before the court

On Tuesday, April 16, two Marseille municipal police officers who opened fire six times in 2019 at a car driver who refused to stop and tried to escape at any cost. Both were tried for aggravated assault with a firearm by a public official, and one, Lionel M., 37, was sentenced to one year of probation and a five-year firearms ban. Another, Eric A., 55, was acquitted. At the hearing held on March 26, the prosecution requested a thirty-month suspended sentence against them, considering that two municipal police officers were transferred. “feeling angry” More so than in a defensive position.

On April 28, 2019, in the southern districts of Marseille, three bikers of the municipal police caught up with Anthony T.’s car, which refused to stop, took a prohibited direction and caused a commotion with moving drivers, due to a red light. in another direction. At one point, believing that their colleague in the back of the car was putting the fugitive at risk of being knocked down during a second inadvertent reversal, two municipal police officers shot through the windshield.

“I just wanted to protect my colleague from dying”Lionel M. explained to the court that three of the four shots fired from his 357 Magnum Manurhin sniper rifle hit the driver in the neck, shoulder and arm, causing him to be out of work for a month. However, two shots of his colleague did not hit him. It was the first time, for the seven-year municipal police junior, in seventeen years for his superior, that they had used a weapon. Before the investigating judge, Eric A. justified aiming at the windshield of the car “Because there’s a driver.” My goal was to cut him so he could stop the car from moving forward. “.

Procedural vicissitudes

A municipal police officer jumped into the back of a parked car when he saw the tail lights come on. However, a witness overlooking the scene placed it about three meters from the fugitive’s car and specified that it was not on the axis of the route. “At the time of the shooting, they were never sure that their colleague was in danger. Prosecutor Ahmed Chafai noted in his indictment. And if you shoot someone, you have to be sure of it”.