Manslaughter charge for officer who now says he fired weapon by accident

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A police officer who shot dead a young black man in western France earlier this week, sparking three nights of rioting, has been charged with manslaughter, his lawyer has said.

The officer initially claimed he acted in self-defence while trying to arrest the 22-year-old in the city of Nantes on Tuesday, but when questioned in custody he said he had fired his weapon by accident.

“He recognises he made a statement that did not conform with the truth,” his lawyer Laurent-Franck Lienard told Agence-French Press on Friday.

The officer, who has been granted conditional release, told investigators from the police oversight body that “it was an accidental shot” that killed the man, identified as Aboubakar, who was under surveillance for suspected drug trafficking.

He died from a single bullet wound to the neck on Tuesday evening after police stopped him in his car in the Breil neighbourhood of Nantes, which is home to a large public housing estate with a history of gang violence.

Police initially said that Aboubakar had resisted arrest and tried to reverse his car into an officer but a witness who spoke to AFP said the car was stationary when the police officer opened fire.

During three nights of rioting after the killing, gangs of youths set fire to 52 cars – including the mayor’s personal vehicle – and several buildings, including two schools, causing dismay among local residents.

Four people were arrested, including a 14-year-old carrying a petrol can and matches.

There have also been more than a dozen arrests elsewhere this week, including in Garges-les-Gonesse, the Paris suburb where Aboubakar grew up.

The unrest has again highlighted tensions in deprived urban areas of France.

Local youths often complain about heavy-handed policing and brutality, while the security forces are frequently treated as targets and they struggle to combat violent drug-dealing gangs.

In a bid to defuse tensions, prime minister Édouard Philippe visited Nantes on Thursday where he promised “the fullest transparency” about the circumstances of the young man’s death.

On Thursday evening, around 1,000 people marched in Nantes calling for “justice for Abou” and demanding clarity about the circumstances of his death.

There are fears that the unrest could spread.

In 2005, riots erupted across the country following the deaths of two black teenagers who were electrocuted in a Paris suburb while hiding from the police.

Anger over policing bubbled over again last year when a young black man in another Paris suburb suffered severe anal injuries caused by a truncheon during his arrest.