Local prosecutors in Nanterre, the western suburb of Paris where the shooting occurred, have opened a manslaughter investigation. The officer accused of shooting the teenager has not been publicly identified and has not been charged, but was in custody for questioning.
Alliance Police Nationale, a police union, reacted angrily to Mr. Macron’s comments and said in a statement that police officers, “like any citizen, have the right to the presumption of innocence,” and that it was “inconceivable” for Mr. Macron or other officials to “condemn our colleagues” before the end of the investigation.
So far, no official has disputed the content of the unconfirmed video, which spread widely on social media. The woman who said she had posted the original video on Twitter, told The New York Times that it had been given to her by the witness, with whom she is close. The woman asked that her name be withheld to avoid repercussions for sharing the footage.
After unrest erupted overnight Tuesday, Mr. Darmanin said that 2,000 police officers and gendarmes would be deployed across the Paris region on Wednesday evening to contain any more violence. As night fell, sporadic clashes erupted once again in several French cities, including Toulouse and Lille. In Nanterre, protesters set cars on fire and set off fireworks; in Viry-Châtillon, south of Paris, a group of young people set a bus on fire, but no injuries were reported.
During earlier violence, rioters threw rocks and fireworks at riot police, who responded with tear gas. Protesters burned about 40 cars. A City Hall annex in Mantes-la-Jolie, a town west of Paris, was destroyed. And more than 30 people were arrested, according to the French authorities.
Sofia Berkoukeche, 29, an occupational psychologist who has lived in Nanterre for nearly a decade, said on Wednesday that there was “a general frustration with police violence” and called the shooting “the last straw.”
“You can’t take such radical measures to impose order,” said Ms. Berkoukeche, who was working on the terrace of a cafe in the suburb. “It makes the police less credible.”
