Police custody was lifted on Thursday for a gendarme who shot dead a man carrying a knife during an intervention at his home on Wednesday, in the town of Arcs-sur-Argens (Var), announced the Draguignan parquet.
“The police custody of the gendarme who fired the shots has been lifted
,” said Pierre Couttenier, the public prosecutor, in a press release, specifying that
“the investigation is continuing
. ”
The surveillance and intervention squad of the national gendarmerie (PSIG) intervened late Wednesday afternoon at the home of a man known for
“his criminal record and likely to present mental disorders,”
explained the magistrate on Wednesday.
The intervention took place at the request of the municipal police,
“following acts of contempt against persons holding public authority”
.
Read alsoAfter the broadcast of pornographic photos featuring gendarmes in Antibes, the IGGN seized
Flammable product
When the police showed up at his home, the man allegedly threw an
“inflammable product”
under his door which spilled into the common areas of the building.
Fearing
, “for the safety of local residents”
, that the man would set the product on fire, they then forced entry to his home but the suspect rushed at them
“armed with a knife”
.
It was at that moment that one of the gendarmes opened fire with his service weapon.
An investigation into “intentional homicide by a person holding public authority” was entrusted to the General Inspectorate of the National Gendarmerie (IGGN) in co-responsibility with the Marseille Research Section.