Mounia, mother of Nahel, reacts after laying flowers at the location of the shooting during a gathering marking two years since the death of her son Nahel Merzouk, a 17-year-old shot dead at point-blank by police during a traffic stop, in Nanterre, west of Paris, on June 27, 2025. JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP
A French policeman who shot and killed a teenager in 2023 outside Paris, sparking nationwide protests, will stand trial for violence that led to death, an appeals court said Thursday, March 5.
The Versailles appeals court ruled that it had "not been established that Florian M. had intended, at the moment of shooting, to take the driver's life." "Florian M. could have been convinced that by restarting, the Mercedes was likely to endanger the physical integrity of third parties or of himself," the court added.
It said he should be tried on the lesser charge in a criminal court without a jury.
Mobile phone footage of an officer shooting Merzouk inside a car during a traffic stop on a busy street went viral following the incident, sparking days of protests. The police initially maintained that Merzouk had driven his car at the officer. But this was contradicted by the video, which showed two officers standing by a stationary car, with one pointing a weapon at its driver.
