The mother of a teenager killed “in cold blood” has decried the police officer who allegedly shot him for “taking my baby away” as riots spread through the streets of Paris.
Nael M died after a police officer allegedly shot him in the chest at point-blank range while he sat at the wheel of his yellow Mercedes in the western suburb of Nanterre.
It is believed the young French-Algerian and his two fellow passengers were hesitant to adhere to a traffic stop and attempted to drive away, leading to Nael M being killed.
Prosecutors have confirmed that the unnamed officer apparently responsible for the shooting is being investigated for “murder” but the incident has also caused civil unrest in the French capital.
The shooting on Tuesday led to disturbances across the French capital, with 24 arrests by this morning (June 28).
And the teen’s family have released a photograph since, writing: “The love of my life.”
Nael’s devastated mother said: “I lost a 17-year-old, I was alone with him, and they took my baby away from me. He was still a child, he needed his mother.”
His grandmother said: “I will never forgive them. My grandson died, they killed my grandson. We are not happy at all, I am against the government.
“They killed my grandson, now I don’t care about anyone, they took my grandson from me, I will never forgive them in my life, never, never, never.”
Footage verified by AFP of the shooting on Tuesday appears to show an armed traffic officer pointing his service pistol at a yellow Mercedes in the moments before the killing.
The armed officer allegedly says to the 17-year-old driver: “I am going to lodge a bullet in your head.”
There is then a bang and the car lurches forward, before Nael dies at the scene of the shooting, which happened at about 8.30am.
“At first police said the teenager had tried to run them over, but they changed their tune when the video appeared,” said an investigating source.
The shooting happened close to the Nanterre-Prefecture RER train station, near Nelson-Mandela Square, behind La Defense business district.
As young people began to pour onto the streets, setting fire to dustbins and buildings including the town hall in the suburb of Mantes-la-Jolie, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin appealed for calm.
He told the National Assembly in Paris that the images posted on social media were “extremely shocking and worrying”.
He also urged people to “respect the grief of the family and the presumption of innocence of the police”.
Paris police chief Laurent Nunez said the action of the officer “raises questions”, while claiming that the officer may have “felt threatened”.
Yassine Bouzrou, lawyer for Nael’s family, said the video “clearly showed a policeman killing a young man in cold blood”.
Mr Bouzrou added: “This is a long way from any kind of legitimate defence.”
The other two passengers of the vehicle have not been identified.
