An investigation was opened this Saturday, June 29, 2024, for attempted voluntary homicide of a person in authority, namely four police officers from the BAC (anti-crime brigade). Acts committed on May 16, in Noumea, which led to the referral of three people involved.
That day, around 4:30 p.m., in a context of “very intense violence,” the Public Prosecutor’s Office indicates, four police officers belonging to the BAC were driving around the Rivière-Salée district, looking for a vehicle likely to be involved in the looting of the Ballande armory, in the Ducos sector.
Stolen police tactical vest
Arriving on rue Colardeau, the police officers saw a group of individuals, including a man wearing a police tactical vest from a previous robbery. When the police saw the man, fearing he would be arrested, he fled towards buildings where the police lost sight of him.
Continuing its mission, the BAC crew was then called in as reinforcements to arrest the perpetrators of thefts. As the police vehicle passed in front of the group of individuals located on rue Colardeau, a man wearing a tactical vest appeared and fired a shotgun at the police vehicle, said the public prosecutor, Yves Dupas, before specifying that the driver and the police officer in the back seat were injured in the face.
“Despite his injuries, the driver managed to continue on his way but he entered a street blocked by roadblocks, which forced him to reverse, continues Yves Dupas. During this maneuver, the police vehicle was fired upon a second time, this time hitting the police officer in the back of the vehicle, who was very seriously injured in the thigh.”
Evacuation to Médipôle by helicopter
The driver then went to Avenue Bonaparte where reinforcements put them in protection, while providing first aid to the injured until a helicopter arrived to transport them to the Médipôle.
Medical findings show that the serious injuries sustained by the police officers were consistent with the use of a firearm by a third party. “The driver, a police officer, hit by the first shot, presenting multiple ballistic impacts at the level of both eyes, with the presence of metal fragments in the face and shoulder justifying a total incapacity for work of 21 days, subject to possible complications, and with possible permanent disabilitydetails the public prosecutor. The left rear passenger, a chief brigadier, hit by the first shot, was also hit in the eyes and face as well as in the left index finger, justifying a total incapacity for work of 21 days, with permanent incapacity due to the loss of use of his right eye. The right rear passenger, a police officer, hit by the second shot, in the thigh with a bone fracture, causing a loss of consciousness and requiring emergency surgery, justifying a total incapacity for work of 45 days, with possible permanent incapacity.”
12 people arrested
The investigations carried out by the territorial judicial police service of Nouméa resulted in the arrest, as of the 26th, of 12 people who made up the group of individuals on rue Colardeau. The multiple investigative actions, namely hearings of witnesses, the exploitation of technical and scientific police, findings on the scene, made it possible to determine the presumed participation in this attempted murder of the police officers of three individuals: the shooter and his accomplice as well as a third having concealed the murder weapon, which was found during a search.
During his custody, the alleged shooter, a 26-year-old man living in Nouméa, admitted to having used his weapon, a hunting rifle, twice on the Bac police officers as they passed by. vehicle. He had been at the “rioters” roadblock for 7 hours, where another individual had asked him to get the rifle as the police vehicle approached. He said he targeted the vehicle with his 25-06 caliber rifle equipped with a scope.
He is indicted for attempted murder of a person holding public authority and placed in pre-trial detention, a decision in accordance with the prosecution’s requisitions and the request of the investigating magistrate.
The shooter’s accomplice, a 23-year-old man living in Noumea, was described by several witnesses as being “very active and aggressive” at the roadblock and determined to escalate the tension by constantly repeating that he would shoot at the police. He was identified as the alleged instigator of the attempted murder of the police officers, based on the instructions he gave to the shooter. He was charged with complicity by instigation of attempted murder of a person in authority and placed in pre-trial detention.
Lifetime sentence
The third accused, the brother of the shooter, is being prosecuted for concealing evidence of a crime or misdemeanor, by hiding the rifle with scopes used in the attempted murder. He is placed under judicial supervision by the investigating magistrate.
“In this procedure, which characterises a criminal intent taken to the extreme to the detriment of the internal security forces, the two persons charged face the maximum penalty of life imprisonment.”concludes Yves Dupas.
