A French policeman has been charged* with murder after a driver was shot dead on one of the most famous bridges in Paris, reports the Evening Standard.
The 24-year-old officer, who has not been named, also faces a criminal trial for wilful violence against two passengers in the Volkswagen Polo, one of whom also died after gunfire on the Pont Neuf.
He has admitted opening fire with a high-powered Heckler& Koch assault rifle after the driver failed to stop for a police patrol late on Sunday night.
“Paris prosecutors indicted the officer for voluntary homicide in connection with the driver of the car,” an investigating source said on Wednesday.
“He is also charged with wilful violence against the two other men, aggravated by his position as someone holding public authority.”
Read more of this report from the Evening Standard.
*Editor's note: Under a change to the French legal system introduced in 1993, a magistrate can decide a suspect should be 'placed under investigation' (mis en examen), which is a status one step short of being charged (inculpé), if there is 'serious or concordant' evidence that they committed a crime. Some English-language media describe this status, peculiar to French criminal law, as that of being charged. In fact, it is only at the end of an investigation that a decision can be made to bring charges, in which case the accused is automatically sent for trial.