French police kill teen who refused traffic stop

French police shot dead a 17-year-old who failed to stop when ordered to by traffic police outside Paris on Tuesday.

Video circulating on social media shows a police officer pointing a gun at the driver of a car, before a gunshot is heard. The car crashes to a stop.

Emergency services attempted to resuscitate the teenager at the scene, but he died shortly afterwards.

Fifteen people were arrested following protests and unrest overnight.

The officer accused of firing the shot has been detained on homicide charges.

The footage, verified by AFP news agency, shows two police officers trying to stop the vehicle. One points his weapon at the driver through the window and appears to fire at point-blank range as he tries to drive off.

Two others were in the car at the time of the shooting. One passenger fled while another was arrested and taken into custody.

The shooting triggered a series of protests on Tuesday night in Nanterre, the area where the teenager was killed.

Cars, rubbish bins and wooden pallets were set alight, and fireworks set off.

Paris police chief Laurent Nuñez told French television station BFMTV that the policeman’s actions “raises questions”, though he suggested the officer may have felt threatened.

The 17-year-old’s family lawyer Yassine Bouzrou insisted was an illegitimate defence, telling the same channel the video “clearly showed a policeman killing a young man in cold blood”.

He added that the family had filed a complaint against police for “lying” – after initially claiming the car had tried to run down the officers.

Another lawyer representing the victim’s family, Jennifer Cambla, told local media that nothing could justify what had happened, and described the death as an “execution”.

France’s Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin told parliament on Tuesday the two officers involved in the incident were being questioned by the police. He said the video shared on social media was “extremely shocking”.

Left-wing leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon expressed his “heartfelt condolences” to the family of the teen. “No officer has the right to kill unless in self-defence,” he wrote in a tweet.

“This uncontrolled police force discredits the authority of the state. It needs to be completely overhauled,” he added.

Two weeks ago, a 19-year-old driver was shot dead by police in the western France town of Angouleme, after allegedly hitting an officer in the legs during a traffic stop.