A French policeman has been charged with murder after a driver was shot dead on one of the most famous bridges in Paris.
The 24-year-old officer, who has not been named, also faces a criminal trial for wilful violence against two passengers in the Volkswagen Polo, one of whom also died after gunfire on the Pont Neuf.
He has admitted opening fire with a high-powered Heckler& Koch assault rifle after the driver failed to stop for a police patrol late on Sunday night.
“Paris prosecutors indicted the officer for voluntary homicide in connection with the driver of the car,” an investigating source said on Wednesday.
“He is also charged with wilful violence against the two other men, aggravated by his position as someone holding public authority.”
The police officer has been in custody since Monday, and was not granted bail following the charges.
Neither of the deceased victims have been named, but the driver was 25 and the dead passenger 31.
Both men, who were from Northern Paris, were declared dead at the scene.
The Volkswagen’s rear passenger, aged 42, was wounded in the arm but did not suffer serious injuries.
The four other members of the police patrol – a woman and three men – have since been interviewed at length.
A spokesman for the IGPN – the French police unit that investigates alleged crimes carried out by police – confirmed the charges.
A parallel enquiry has been opened into the “attempted killing of public officials”.
The deaths happened about midnight on Sunday, soon after the re-election of French president Emmanuel Macron.
Crowds were in the Pont Neuf area, some of them on the way back from Mr Macron’s victory speech by the Eiffel Tower.
