A gendarme was placed in police custody on Wednesday after fatally injuring a man carrying a knife during an intervention at his home, in the town of Les Arcs (Var), announced the Draguignan prosecutor's office.
The surveillance and intervention squad of the national gendarmerie intervened at this man's home at the end of the afternoon, at the request of the municipal police, "following acts of contempt against persons holding public authority", said Pierre Couttenier, public prosecutor at the Draguignan judicial court, in a press release.
According to this same source, the man was known for “his criminal record and likely to have mental disorders”.
“Voluntary homicide by person holding public authority”
When the police showed up at his home, the man allegedly threw a “flammable 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 allegedly rushed at them “armed with a knife”.
It was at that moment that one of the gendarmes opened fire with his service weapon, fatally wounding him.
A flagrant investigation into the charge of “voluntary homicide by a person holding public authority” was opened and entrusted by the Draguignan public prosecutor's office to the general inspection of the national gendarmerie and the Marseille research section.
The IGGN will be responsible for determining the conditions for the intervention of the gendarmes and the use of his weapon by the shooter.
The research section will have to look into the initial facts which justified the intervention of the police, specifies the magistrate's press release.