A fourteen-year-old boy was injured in the head by a police officer’s shot in Fontenay-sous-Bois, France, near Paris on Saturday. The facts took place after the victory of football club PSG over Arsenal in the final of the Champions League.
Journalist at HLN
Source: Belga
The French General Inspectorate of National Police (IGPN) has been called in to investigate the case. The Créteil public prosecutor’s office reported this on Thursday after earlier reports from the French radio station RTL. The shot was fired with a so-called LDB rifle (‘lanceur de balles de défense’), the rifle the police use to fire rubber bullets.
The mayor of the municipality, Jean-Philippe Gautrais, announced via Facebook that the teenager is in hospital. Although his life is no longer in danger, doctors have found permanent damage to his vision. In an official announcement, the mayor demands that the exact circumstances of the incident be fully clarified.
The French public prosecutor’s office confirmed to the French news agency AFP that the inspection service has been ordered to investigate how exactly the teenager was injured. The service is already investigating similar events that took place that same Saturday in the neighboring department of Seine-Saint-Denis. That investigation started after a report from MP Aly Diouara. He stated that a thirteen-year-old boy lost an eye in Bobigny on Saturday evening due to a shot from a police officer’s rifle.