Mounia, the mother of Nahel, a teenage driver by a policeman, called him her ‘life’ and ‘best friend’ (Picture: Family Handout/Getty)
The mother of a teenager shot by French police, sparking riots across the country, has revealed the last words she said to him before he was killed.
Nahel M, 17, was behind the wheel of a rental Mercedes AMG when he was stopped by two traffic officers on motorbikes in the Paris suburb of Nanterre on Tuesday morning.
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Footage posted on social media shows one of them aiming his gun through the windscreen and shouting ‘I’m going to put a bullet in your head’ before firing as Nahel pulled off.
The French Algerian teenager drove forwards a short distance and crashed into a pole, dying there soon after having been shot in the chest at close range.
The teenager, identified by lawyers as Nahel M, who was killed (Picture: Family Handout/Unpixs)
Protesters hold a banner reading ‘Justice for Nahel’ (Picture: AFP via Getty)
Mounia, the mother of Nahel, gestures during a commemoration march for her son (Picture: AFP via Getty)
In a heart-breaking message, his mother, named only as Mounia, said: ‘This Tuesday morning, he gave me a big kiss, and he told me: “Mum, I love you”. I told him: “I love you, be careful.”
‘An hour later, what do they tell me? That my son was shot. What am I going to do? He was my life. He was my best friend. He was my son. He was everything to me.’
French prosecutors have said the officer will be investigated by magistrates for ‘voluntary homicide’ over the killing, which has sparked two days of violent protests that has seen 150 people arrested.
Nanterre prosecutor Pascal Prache said that based on an initial investigation, he concluded that ‘the conditions for the legal use of the weapon were not met’.
The 38-year-old officer, named only as Florian M, claimed he killed the youth because he ‘appeared to be dangerous’.
He told prosecutors that he saw a yellow Mercedes-AMG sports car with a Polish number plate being ‘driven at high speed in a bus lane’ by Nahel, who was with two passengers.
‘In view of his behaviour and the apparent young age of the occupants, I decided to follow, so as to carry out a check,’ he said.
‘During the journey, the driver was responsible for several traffic violations.’
The officer said that when he and a colleague got off their bikes to confront Nahel after he stopped, they took out their service pistols.
‘We pointed them at the driver to dissuade him from restarting,’ he went on, admitting that he fired once, ‘as the car moved forward’.
Asked why, he said: ‘Because the driver appeared to be dangerous.’
He added that both he and his colleague ‘were afraid of being hit by the vehicle’.
A firefighter stands in front of a burning vehicle during clashes between protesters and police (Picture: Reuters)
Protesters riot in Nanterre, west of Paris, on June 28 (Picture: AFP via Getty)
A car burns as a slogan is seen on a wall which reads in French ‘Justice for Nahel’ (Picture: AFP via Getty)
Police officers clash with protesters during a commemoration march for a teenage driver shot dead by a policeman (Picture: AFP via Getty)
Security forces have arrested 150 people in the chaos that saw balaclava-clad protesters burning cars and setting off fireworks (Picture: AFP via Getty)
Mounia raises her fist with attendees as they hold a minute of silence during a commemoration march for her son (Picture: AFP via Getty)
Mr Prache said searches of the car did not reveal any drugs, alcohol, or weapons.
Police arrested 150 people across France during a second night of rioting and arson attacks following the fatal shooting.
Town halls and schools were among the buildings put to the torch between Wednesday and Thursday.
Gerald Darmanin, France’s Interior Minister called it ‘a night of unbearable violence against symbols of the republic’.
Many of the worst fires were caused by Molotov cocktails and firework rockets being aimed at buildings.
Police fired flash-balls to disperse protesters who were burning rubbish in northern Paris, and the crowd responded by throwing bottles.
Buses and trams were among the vehicles burned out by mobs, along with blocks of flats.
The entrance to Fresnes prison, south of Paris, was burned out, while videos showed police station windows being smashed before rows of police cars were put set ablaze.
President Emmanuel Macron called for calm, saying: ‘We have an adolescent that was killed, it is unexplainable and inexcusable. Nothing justifies the death of a young man.’
Nahel’s mother said: ‘I lost a 17-year-old, I was alone with him, and they took my baby away from me. He was still a child, he needed his mother.’
And his grandmother, who also remained unidentified, said: ‘I will never forgive them.
‘My grandson died, they killed my grandson. We are not happy at all, I am against the government.’
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