The police knew the night would be rough.
They had been warned: the death on Saturday March 26 of a thirty-year-old injured by the shooting of a member of the police in Sevran, in Seine-Saint-Denis, did not bode well.
The man, who was driving a stolen van, had fled when a crew from the anti-crime brigade (BAC) tried to arrest him.
For reasons which remain at this stage still unclear, one of the officials fired his weapon once, hitting the driver of the stolen vehicle.
The individual died a few hours later from his injuries and the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN) was seized to investigate these facts.
Read alsoSeine-Saint-Denis: a man driving a stolen van killed by a police officer during a check
Fearing the worst for the hours to come and in order to deal with possible tensions, the Paris police headquarters, according to our information, mobilized this Saturday March 26 in Sevran four companies specializing in urban violence and security.
Trapped police and a muscular mobilization
Apart from the anti-crime brigade of Seine-Saint-Denis, the now famous special law enforcement unit CRS 8 has also been requisitioned.
A unit formed to intervene "
in 15 minutes within a radius of 300 km in the event of serious disturbances of public order and urban violence
", specified last July the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin.
“
These were CRS who had been sent to Corsica.
It is rare that this unit is mobilized, it was one of their first interventions within the inner suburbs
, ”comments Matthieu Valet, deputy national secretary of the independent union of police commissioners.
A muscular mobilization which was not without foundation.
“
A surveillance of the sector allowed us to confirm that there was a real desire for revenge vis-à-vis the police, held responsible by certain premises for the death of the driver of the van
”, continues Matthieu Valet.
If the end of the afternoon was quite calm despite some provocations and burning of garbage cans, the police were warned that these were only preliminaries: the troublemakers were waiting for nightfall to get to work.
Around 9:30 p.m., the police are informed that the electricity in the Beaudottes district has been cut.
It is precisely in this neighborhood that the driver of the van was hit.
The canine brigade, come to lend a hand to its colleagues, is dispatched on the spot, without its canine companions.
They then find that the area is plunged into darkness.
Worried about what awaits them, they ask to be supported by CRS, when they see several suspicious individuals.
Wishing to carry out an identity check, they get out of their vehicle and go to meet the shadows they discern in the distance.
But hardly have they got out of their car when they are greeted by a shower of projectiles.
Trapped, they see, helpless, huge stones smash the windshield of their vehicle.
The police finally manage to extricate themselves
in extremis
from the ambush, beating a retreat and taking refuge behind the CRS.
The latter used tear gas to force the attackers to retreat.
The thugs were quick to retaliate with fireworks mortar fire.
“
This is a district where France has been retreating for 30 years.
For these thugs, we are just a rival gang
, ”continues Matthieu Valet.
"
Any opportunity is good to attack us and the motive does not matter because, for them, the police are executioners, and the thugs, heroes
", deplores the official, recalling that a policewoman was, this Thursday, March 24 , "
lynched
" in Valenton, in Val-de-Marne, while she was carrying out a simple identity check on young people playing football in a parking lot.
According to a police source, six individuals were finally arrested in Sevran and a dozen Molotov cocktails were seized after this night of tension.