Interior Minister Christophe Castaner paid an official tribute this Friday to the policeman killed last weekend near Lyon, mown by a van in flight, greeting a "great policeman and a priceless man".
"This crime will not go unpunished, justice will be done," assured the minister, announcing that "the investigation is progressing well" after the death of this 45-year-old policeman, Franck Labois, assigned to the Operational Support Group (GAO) at the Rhône Departmental Security.
Two people arrested
After a minute of silence, his coffin was covered with the blue-white-red flag carried in the courtyard of the prefecture by his GAO colleagues in uniform, then the minister, accompanied by the deceased's brothers, posthumously handed him the insignia of knight of the Legion of Honor and raised him to the rank of captain, in the presence in particular of the Secretary of State for the Interior Laurent Nuñez.
During the night of January 10 to 11, Franck Labois was cut down by the driver of a van during an intervention in Bron, at the gates of Lyon, aimed at arresting people suspected of being involved in the theft affair aggravated by an organized gang. He died of his injuries on Monday. Two people, including a minor, were arrested Wednesday and Thursday as part of the investigation, but their role remains to be determined according to the prosecution.
"Policeman is the gift of self"
In his solemn tribute, the Minister of the Interior praised the "passion, joy, courage and will" of Captain Labois, a "man, a comrade as we find few" who joined the GAO two years ago . "It is because it stood up that it fell," greeted the minister. "With you, France has lost a great policeman and an invaluable man," said Christophe Castaner, calling on his colleagues to "follow his example, continue the mission" without, however, "letting hate prevail".
"Police, it is the gift of oneself, it is to want to serve the others, the French, the Republic, to take all the risks to help and protect", he continued, by lambasting "the lessons of virtue" given by some "to those who fulfill their republican duty".
Franck Labois, he said again, "was not a man to seek honors and put himself forward". Before concluding at the address of the disappeared: "You will continue to live in our gestures, in our memories".
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Policeman killed near Lyon: Tribute to Franck Labois Friday at the prefecture in the presence of Christophe Castaner
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- Lyon
- Christophe Castaner
- Police officer
- Police