Posted by
Gabrielle Cusumano on Wednesday, November 28, 2007 11:11:07 AM
"The kids were shooting at us at close range, loading and reloading their weapons. I've never seen anything like it. It was like in a movie. They were picking us off from 10 or 15 metres away."
Rioters 'were out to kill us', says wounded French officer
28 November 2007 (Excerpted)
PARIS - "It felt like they were out to kill us. We knew there were weapons in the suburbs, but never turned against us like that," one of the police officers shot during youth riots near Paris told AFP Wednesday.
Sent to the suburb of Villiers le Bel to quell an outbreak of violence that followed the death of two teens in a crash with police, Francois, who asked not to be fully identified, found himself under siege.
"We were attacked from all sides" by youths armed with hunting rifles."
"The kids were shooting at us at close range, loading and reloading their weapons. I've never seen anything like it. It was like in a movie. They were picking us off from 10 or 15 metres away."
"I was hit in the hand with what I thought was a slingshot. I didn't realise right away that it was buckshot, until I saw the hole in my trousers. I tried to protect my younger colleagues, then I fell to the ground."
Police unions say the scale and intensity of the violence unleashed since Sunday is worse than the 2005 riots, also sparked by the deaths of two youths.
A line was crossed, they say, when suburb gangs turned guns on the police, 120 of whom were injured, several by gunwound. The hunting rifles used by the gangs are dangerous anywhere within a 300-metre (yard) range.
Bruno Beschizza of the Synergie-Officiers police union said he had told Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie of the fear sparked among the police rank and file by the recent flare-up.
"We told her that our colleagues, out in the field, were afraid. How would you not be when a guy pulls a gun out of his sleeve?" he told AFP.
"There were not enough of us to sustain that kind of a siege," Francois said. "I had run out of (rubber bullet) ammunition. We really got a fright. We felt they were out to kill us. We didn't know where we were any more."
Police unionists and officers admitted that security forces were "caught off guard" on Monday, the worst night of violence.
Tuesday's ramped-up police operation, with 1,000 men and surveillance helicopters deployed to Villiers alone, was overseen by one of France's highest police chiefs in a sign of the gravity of the situation.
President Nicolas Sarkozy vowed Wednesday that rioters who shot at police would be severely punished.
"Opening fire at officials is completely unacceptable," Sarkozy warned, accusing the rioters of "attempted murder" and promising that "those who take it into their hands to shoot at officials will find themselves in court." (Excerpted) For more go to:
http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=25&story_id=46434
President Sarkozy vows to punish gun-toting rioters
French President Nicolas Sarkozy vowed that rioters who shot at police during two days of Paris suburban unrest would be severely punished.
Rioters 'were out to kill us', says wounded officer
"It felt like they were out to kill us. We knew there were weapons in the suburbs, but never turned against us like that," one of the police officers shot during youth riots near Paris said.
Riots and violence spread to Toulouse
A fire broke out at a library and about a dozen cars were burned in the southern French city of Toulouse, police said.
All can be found at Expatica.com at:
http://www.expatica.com/actual/toc.asp?subchannel_id=25
|
|
Second night, rioters shoot and hurt second policemen with large caliber "birdshot" amo...Paris Villiers-Le-Bel Riots |
From: batavianwarrior
Views: 277
Added: 1 day ago
|
|
Time: 01:34 |
More in News & Politics |
|
|
Second night, rioters shoot and hurt policemen with "birdshot" in his leg...Paris Villiers-Le-Bel Riots |
From: batavianwarrior
Views: 679
Added: 1 day ago
|
|
Time: 00:29 |
More in News & Politics |
|
|
Second night, rioters shoot and hurt policemen with large caliber firearm bullet...Paris Villiers-Le-Bel France Riots november 2007 |
From: batavianwarrior
Views: 229
Added: 1 day ago
|
|
Time: 00:31 |
More in News & Politics |
|
|
north african muslim youth rioting AGAIN in Paris injuring over 100 police....muslim rioters paris france islamic thugs police europe |
From: BNPWINSTON
Views: 22
Added: 1 day ago
|
|
Time: 01:20 |
More in News & Politics |
|
|
Riots in France in the suburbs of Paris on the 27th of November. ____________________________________________ "The violence was more intense that during three weeks of rioting in 2005, Riots in France in the suburbs of Paris on the 27th of November.
____________________________________________
"The violence was more intense that during three weeks of rioting in 2005, said the official, Patrice Ribeiro. Police were shot at and are facing "genuine urban guerillas with conventional weapons and hunting weapons."
Some officers were hit by shotgun pellets, Interior Minister... (more) (less) |
From: IsraelMonAmour
Views: 184
Added: 1 day ago
|
|
Time: 01:00 |
More in News & Politics |
| Show more videos recently added: Today | This week |
|
|
National Assembly, during the Sixth National Assembly Meeting(Thursday, November 8, 2007). (more) (less) |
|