It is a long-term investigation that has led to the arrest of three people, according to the prosecutor in a press release sent this Sunday. The facts date back to May 16 in Noumea, in the Rivière-Salée district, at the start of the riots. A police vehicle was targeted by gunfire. Three police officers were seriously injured. The two main suspects, who have been indicted, face life imprisonment.
This Sunday, June 30, 2024, the public prosecutor’s office announced the opening of a judicial investigation into the charge of attempted voluntary homicide of a person in a position of public authority, “namely four BAC police officers, committed on May 16, 2024 in Noumea”. An investigation which led to the dismissal of three people involved.
The facts date back to May 16, around 4:30 p.m. “In a context of very intense violence, four police officers belonging to the anti-crime brigade, the BAC, were circulating in the Rivière-Salée district in search of a vehicle likely to be involved in the looting of the Ballande armory, in the Ducos sector.”
It was then that the police noticed “a group of individuals including a man wearing a police tactical vest from a previous theft.” The man, who fled, was lost from sight.
As the police vehicle passed in front of the group of individuals located on Colardeau Street, a man wearing a tactical vest appeared and opened fire. “with a shotgun aiming at the police vehicle.” The driver and the official placed in the back seat behind him were injured in the face.
The police vehicle then suffered a second shot. A shot which this time hits the police officer placed in the rear of the vehicle, “very seriously injured in the thigh.”
Finally, reinforcements manage to come to their aid, “providing first aid to the injured until a helicopter arrives to transport them to the Médipôle hospital.”
According to initial medical findings, the police officers’ injuries are consistent with the use of a firearm.
- The driver, a peacekeeper, had multiple ballistic impacts in both eyes, with the presence of metal shards in the face and shoulder, justifying a total incapacity for work of 21 days, “and with possible permanent disability”.
- The left rear passenger, a chief brigadier, 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 disability due to loss of use of his right eye.”
- The passenger, right rear, a police officer, was hit in the thigh with a bone fracture. A man who lost consciousness and then underwent emergency surgery, justifying a total incapacity for work of 45 days, “with possible permanent disability”.
- Finally, the front passenger, a brigadier-chief, was not hit by a projectile. According to the prosecution, he presents “very significant psychological harm, justifying a total incapacity for work of 10 days”.
Investigations led to the arrest of 12 people this Wednesday, June 26, 2024, namely the people who made up the group on rue Colardeau.
An investigation which allowed “to determine the alleged participation in this attempted murder of the police officers by three individuals, the shooter and his accomplice as well as a third having concealed the murder weapon, which was found during a search.”
The prosecutor stated that during his police custody, the alleged shooter, a 26-year-old man living in Noumea, admitted to using his weapon, a hunting rifle, twice on the BAC police officers as their vehicle passed. “He had been at the rioters’ roadblock since 7am, where another individual had asked him to get the rifle as the police vehicle approached and then incited him to fire on the police by saying ‘Shoot, shoot’.” The man said he aimed his .25-06 rifle with a scope at the vehicle.
He was charged with attempted murder of a person in authority and placed in pre-trial detention.
According to several witnesses, the shooter’s accomplice, a 23-year-old man living in Noumea, was presented as “very active and aggressive at the roadblock and determined to increase tension by constantly repeating that he would shoot at the police.”
He was indicted for complicity by instigation in attempted murder of a person holding public authority and placed in pre-trial detention.
The third accused, the shooter’s brother, was charged with concealing evidence of a crime or offence by hiding the sniper rifle used in the attempted murder. He was placed under judicial supervision by the investigating magistrate.
The two people charged face the maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
