Protesters armed with fireworks clashed with riot police in a Paris suburb overnight after a 17-year-old man was shot dead by police during a traffic stop.
Thirty-one people were arrested in the clashes in which 40 cars were burned, mostly in Nanterre, the Paris suburb where the victim was from, the interior minister Gerald Darmanin said on Wednesday.
Video footage showed at least one building on fire and burnt-out barricades on the road. Sporadic clashes broke out between youths and police. Some groups set alight barricades and garbage bins, smashed up a bus stop and threw firecrackers toward police, who responded with tear gas and dispersion grenades.
Mr Darmanin called for calm on BFMTV on Wednesday morning and said "justice must be done and the truth must be told." Some 2,000 police have been mobilised in the region, he said.
Prosecutors have opened a homicide investigation and Mr Darmanin said that the police officer involved in the shooting would be suspended from his duties if the charges against him were brought forward.
Paris police chief Laurent Nunez told BFMTV that "this act raises questions for me" and that the justice system would decide whether or not it was appropriate.
The two officers who carried out the traffic stop, aged between 38 and 40, were experienced, Mr Darmanin said.
A video shared on social media, verified by Reuters, shows two police officers beside the car, a Mercedes AMG, with one shooting as the driver pulled away. A passenger in the car was briefly detained and released, and police are searching for another passenger who fled.
Local resident and anti-racism campaigner, Mornia Labssi, who said she had spoken to the victim's family, said his name was Nael and that he was of Algerian origin.
A lawyer for Nael's family, Yassine Bouzrou, told The Associated Press they want the investigation handed to a different region because they fear Nanterre investigators won't be impartial. In a statement, the team of three lawyers representing the family rejected a reported statement by the police suggesting that officers' lives were in danger because the driver had threatened to run them over.
The government will hold a security meeting on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the next steps, Mr Darmanin said.
French actor Omar Sy expressed his support for the family of the victim on Twitter and called for "justice to honour the memory of this child."
Paris Saint-Germain footballer Kylian Mpabbe tweeted heartbreak emojis and wrote "I'm hurting for my France. An unacceptable situation."
There have been two fatal shootings during traffic stops in France so far in 2023.
In 2022, a record 13 people were killed in such circumstances, compared to three in 2021 and two in 2020, according to a tally from Reuters.
Additional reporting from agencies
