Hundreds of students and teachers marched across the south-western French city of Toulouse yesterday in protest at the police killing of 17-year-old Habib Ould-Mohamed, the son of Algerian immigrants who was shot dead early on Sunday. Security reinforcements had to be brought from as far away as La Rochelle and Pau to quell two nights of rioting that followed Mr Ould-Mohamed's death.
The marchers from the Mirail technical lycee where Mr Ould-Mohamed had studied accounting wore white arm bands as a sign of mourning. They accused the police of leaving their friend "to die in the gutter".
The Ould-Mohamed family yesterday filed a lawsuit against "X" for murder and failure to assist a person in danger, a legal procedure that could enable them to claim damages from two policemen held in connection with the death. An autopsy concluded that Habib Ould-Mohamed was killed by a 9 mm bullet fired by the patrol leader, police brigadier Henri Bois.
Mr Ould-Mohamed and a companion, who is still sought by police, were driving a stolen Peugeot when they encountered the patrol early on Sunday. In circumstances that remain unclear, the police opened fire and the young men fled on foot. Interviewed by the newspaper Liberation, the missing friend claimed the police car smashed into them when they tried to reverse and that the police got out of the car with guns poised.
He heard two shots and turned to see Habib staggering behind him, "like in slow motion; he was turning in circles, reaching out for something to lean on".
Mr Ould-Mohamed's body was found by a pedestrian a few hours later, half hidden under a parked car. Contrary to all the rules, the police did not report the incident and, according to Le Monde, they later returned to the scene to collect spent cartridges.
In the National Assembly yesterday, the acting Interior Minister, Mr Jean-Jacques Queyranne, said the Toulouse policemen had violated the most basic regulations.
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