NANTERRE, France: The policeman who killed a French teenager in a Paris suburb Tuesday, has apologised to the family while in custody, his lawyer said.
The killing sparked violent protests across the country. “The first words he pronounced were to say sorry and the last words he said were to say sorry to the family,” Laurent-Franck Lienard told BFMTV late Thursday.
“He is devastated, he doesn’t get up in the morning to kill people,” Lienard said. “He didn’t want to kill him.”
The European country has been hit by protests after 17-year-old Nahel was shot point-blank in Nanterre during a traffic stop that unleashed rage and reignited debate about police tactics. The incident was captured on video.
Lienard said the policeman was “extremely shocked by the violence of this video”.
The officer has been formally charged with voluntary homicide and remanded into police custody.
Lienard said he would on Friday appeal his client being placed in custody. –AFP/APP
