A 46-year-old man was fatally injured by police fire on Monday in Saint-Denis-de-la-Réunion where he had just stabbed the uncle of his ex-companion who was interposed between her and him, a we learned from the prosecution.
The facts occurred in La Bretagne, a district of Saint-Denis.
Armed with a knife, the forties had come to threaten his ex-companion with death.
Refusal to comply
"
His uncle (aged 76) who intervened (...) was then wounded by weapon four times
," said Véronique Denizot, prosecutor of Saint-Denis, in a press release Monday evening.
The vital prognosis of the septuagenarian is not engaged.
The witnesses notified the emergency services and the police.
A crew of three police officers were the first to arrive at the scene of the altercation.
Shortly after the assailant returned to the home of his ex-companion "
still armed with his knife
", indicates the magistrate.
Despite the summons of the police to lay down his knife, "
the individual did not comply and forced one of the police officers (...) to step back
" until he found himself "
blocked by a wall behind him
".
After "
final warnings without any effect, the individual continuing his threatening progression
", the policeman took out his weapon and "
fired four times on the individual
", relates Véronique Denizot.
The other police officers present provided first aid to the assailant and help was called.
The man was then transferred to hospital where he died.
An autopsy will take place on Tuesday to clarify the cause of death.
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The prosecution opened three investigations.
The first relates to the violence with a weapon committed by the respondent on the uncle of his ex-partner.
The second on the attempted murder of the policeman by the assailant.
The third relates to “
the use of his weapon by the police officer, for intentional violence resulting in death without intention of giving it
”, according to the prosecutor.
The police officer “
is currently heard in free hearing
”.
"
Only the elements of the investigation will be able to allow to retain or not
" the self-defense, indicated the magistrate.
This is the first time in 18 years that a police officer from Reunion fatally shoots a person.
In 2005, the police shot dead a man in Saint-Paul (west of the island) who had just shot and killed his former employer and the wife of an ex-colleague during an end-of-year meal. .
