Necva Tastan Sevinc
23 February 2026•Update: 23 February 2026
ISTANBUL
A municipal police officer in northern France has been charged with voluntary homicide following the fatal shooting of a man armed with a knife during an intervention at his home, prosecutors said.
The incident occurred on Wednesday evening in Valenciennes, where officers responded to a call from a neighbor who reported hearing the man shouting: “Call the police.” When officers arrived, they found the 31-year-old inside his apartment yelling “Help” in what authorities described as a disorderly setting.
According to the prosecutor’s statement sent to the Le Parisien newspaper on Sunday, officers attempted to subdue the man on the ground when he injured one officer’s hand with a knife. Another officer then fired several shots, fatally wounding him.
Prosecutors said the officer believed “the municipal police force was in danger due to the presence of the knife,” but he has nevertheless been formally charged, with investigators ruling out self-defense at this stage.
He has been placed under judicial supervision, a measure that differs from the prosecution’s request, and faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted. Authorities said they reserve the right to appeal the supervision decision.
An autopsy found the victim died from internal thoracic bleeding caused by three gunshot wounds to the left shoulder blade and another to the right biceps.
The ongoing judicial investigation will seek to clarify the exact circumstances of the intervention and examine the victim’s mental health background. Prosecutors said he lived alone and was not previously known to police records.
