France shooting: Who was Nahel M, shot by police in Nanterre?

The sidesplitting of Nahel M, 17, has sparked riots successful cities crossed France arsenic good arsenic the municipality of Nanterre to the westbound of Paris wherever helium grew up.

An lone kid brought up by his mother, helium had been moving arsenic a takeaway transportation operator and played rugby league.

His acquisition was described arsenic chaotic. He was enrolled astatine a assemblage successful Suresnes not acold from wherever helium lived, to bid to beryllium an electrician.

Those who knew him said helium was well-loved successful Nanterre wherever helium lived with his parent Mounia and had seemingly ne'er known his father.

His grounds of attendance of assemblage was poor. He did not person a transgression grounds but helium was known to police.

He had fixed his parent a large buss earlier she went to work, with the words "I emotion you, Mum".

Shortly aft 9 successful the greeting helium was fatally changeable successful the chest, point-blank, astatine the instrumentality of a Mercedes car for driving disconnected during a constabulary postulation check.

"What americium I going to bash now?" asked his mother. "I devoted everything to him," she said. "I've lone got one, I haven't got 10 [children]. He was my life, my champion friend."

His grandma spoke of him arsenic a "kind, bully boy".

"A refusal to halt doesn't springiness you a licence to kill," said Socialist Party person Olivier Faure. "All the children of the Republic person a close to justice."

Nahel had spent the past 3 years playing for the Pirates of Nanterre rugby club. He had been portion of an integration programme for teenagers struggling successful school, tally by an relation called Ovale Citoyen.

The programme was aimed astatine getting radical from deprived areas into apprenticeships and Nahel was learning to beryllium an electrician.

Ovale Citoyen president Jeff Puech was 1 of the adults locally who knew him best. He had seen him lone a fewer days agone and spoke of a "kid who utilized rugby to get by".

"He was idiosyncratic who had the volition to acceptable successful socially and professionally, not immoderate kid who dealt successful drugs oregon got amusive retired of juvenile crime," Mr Puech told Le Parisien.

He praised the teenager's "exemplary attitude", a acold outcry from the unpleasant quality assassination of him painted connected societal media.

He had got to cognize Nahel erstwhile helium lived with his parent successful the Vieux-Pont suburb of Nanterre earlier they moved to the Pablo Picasso estate.

It has not gone unnoticed that his household was of Algerian origin. "May Allah assistance him mercy," work a banner unfurled implicit the Paris ringing roadworthy extracurricular Parc des Princes stadium.

"Police unit happens each day, particularly if you're Arab oregon black," said 1 young antheral successful different French metropolis calling for justness for Nahel.

But the family's lawyer, Yassine Bouzrou, said this was not astir racism, but astir justice.

"We person a instrumentality and judicial strategy that protects constabulary officers and it creates a civilization of impunity successful France," helium told the BBC.

Nahel had been the taxable of arsenic galore arsenic 5 constabulary checks since 2021 - what are known arsenic refus d'obtempérer - refusals to co-operate.

As precocious arsenic past play helium had reportedly been placed successful detention for specified a refusal and was owed to look earlier a juvenile tribunal successful September. Much of the occupation helium was successful precocious progressive cars.

The riots that his decease has provoked are a reminder for galore successful France of the events of 2005, erstwhile 2 teenagers, Zyed Benna and Bouna Traoré, were electrocuted arsenic they fled constabulary aft a crippled of shot and ran into an energy substation successful the Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois.

"It could person been me, it could person been my small brother," a Clichy teen called Mohammed told French website Mediapart.