Seine-Saint-Denis: 13 people arrested during a third night of violence

Europe 1 with AFP 10:25 a.m., March 29, 2022

Thirteen people were arrested overnight from Monday to Tuesday in Sevran, Aulnay-sous-Bois and Tremblay-en-France in Seine-Saint-Denis for fires, damage and violence, an expression of anger born after the death of inhabitant, killed by police fire on Saturday.

Quieter than the two previous nights, the evening was marked by several fires in the three municipalities.

In total, eleven garbage containers and four vehicles were set on fire, and makeshift barricades erected, AFP learned from a police source.

No injuries according to a police source

At 1:30 a.m. in Sevran, an old 100m² disused sports hall was destroyed by flames.

No one was injured, according to the same source.

During the night, 13 people, some of whom in possession of jerry cans or molotov cocktails, were arrested for "willful damage by fire", "participation in a group for violence and damage" and "willful violence against a person holding the 'public authority', civil servants having been targeted, from 7:30 p.m., by projectile fire.

"A large system has been put in place. Despite everything, we remain vigilant," said a police source.

The events follow the death on Saturday of Jean-Paul, known as "JP", a resident of the Beaudottes district in Sevran and father of four children.

Around 12:30 p.m., a crew from the Aulnay-sous-Bois anti-crime brigade (BAC) had been asked to track a van reported stolen and tried to check the driver, who was stopped at a red light on a street in this city. .

A policeman fired a shot

"A policeman went up to the driver's window and, in circumstances which remain to be precisely determined, used his weapon - a single shot - as the van suddenly started again", traced Éric Mathais, the public prosecutor of Bobigny, in a press release published on Sunday.

Seriously injured in the left shoulder blade, according to a police source, he died at the end of the afternoon in hospital as a result of his injuries.

For the inhabitants met by AFP on Monday, "it's a murder, it's an injustice".

According to their stories, "JP" had stolen the vehicle of his employer, a service provider for a logistics platform for the delivery of parcels, unhappy with an unpaid salary.

The General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN) was seized of the investigation.

The policeman, 32 years old and hospitalized "in a state of shock", could not yet be heard, the prosecution said on Monday.

According to the mayor of the city Stéphane Blanchet, a white march will be organized in the coming days by the family.