Autopsy shows Paris police shot Liu Shaoyao through the heart

The results of an autopsy on the body of a Chinese national shot dead by a French police officer in Paris on Sunday night concluded that the man was killed by a gunshot to the heart.

The death of the man, identified as Liu Shaoyao, a 56-year-old Chinese national, has caused uproar among Paris' Chinese community as well as in China. The French police claim Liu was shot as an act of "legitimate defense" against "an assailant with scissors," after the police were called to deal with a "domestic dispute."

The French authorities confirmed on Tuesday that they were investigating the shooting. The police officer who shot Liu is on sick leave according to a police source.

The police are following two investigations related to the case - firstly a police inquiry into whether Liu was intending to carry out "first-degree murder" against the police officer, and secondly an inquest by the national French police disciplinary body into the use of a lethal weapon by the police officer.

People hold a sign reading "Police = protection?" during a protest in Paris on March 28, 2017, following the death of Liu Shaoyao. / CFP Photo

Police say the officer who fired the shots acted in self-defense. However, Liu’s family says the shooting was unprovoked, claiming the reason Liu - who spoke little French - was at the door with a pair of scissors, was because he was preparing a fish for dinner.

Liu’s daughters said Liu saw the plainclothes police officer through the door viewer, but he was afraid to open the door. The police smashed the door in, and upon seeing Liu holding the scissors, shot him.

"Liu Shaoyao had no psychiatric disorders. No history of domestic violence. And he was not an alcoholic”, the family’s lawyer said.

In February, the French Senate approved new legislation that gave police officers more rights to use their weapons. The new law, according to RT, gave officers the right to use their weapons "in cases of absolute necessity," when “armed persons threaten their lives or their physical integrity or those of others.”

According to French media, Wednesday evening saw protests against Liu’s shooting and police brutality continue in the French capital, as demonstrations were held outside the Hotel de Ville in the city center. No arrests were made, but two protesters and six security officers were injured in clashes.

Hundreds of protesters had gathered in Paris' 19th arrondissement where Liu was shot dead on Monday and Tuesday, with demonstrations descending into violence on both nights. 35 were arrested on Monday evening, with four of those arrested still in police custody.

Lu Kang, the spokesperson of China's Foreign Ministry. / CFP Photo

China has called for overseas Chinese living in France to react rationally amid the protests over the shooting.

"We understand the reactions of Chinese people to this incident, and hope they can exercise restraint, avoid repeating such conflicts and escalating tensions," sad Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang during a daily briefing on Wednesday.

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