A man was shot dead on Thursday evening near Toulouse, southern France, by gendarmerie forces after he refused to comply with police authorities, according to the city's prosecutor, Samuel Vuelta Simon. French channel bfmtv reported that the young man, born in 1996 in Toulouse, was driving a suspicious vehicle in the northern suburbs of Toulouse on Thursday, when he encountered a team of three gendarmes. He managed to escape control, refused to comply, and fled in his car into a garden, colliding with one of the gendarmes during his escape, which prompted the gendarmes to open fire, resulting in a gunshot wound to his head. He was transported to the hospital, where an autopsy is scheduled for Friday.
Samuel Vuelta Simon stated that the investigation into the circumstances of this death is being conducted by the Gendarmerie’s General Inspectorate, "to verify that we are in legal conditions that may allow for gunfire." He added that damaging garden property and executing maneuvers "at high speed" in the presence of civilians indeed represents a heightened refusal to comply, but investigations must confirm the nature of any voluntary contact with the gendarmerie. This incident occurs at a time when France is experiencing heightened security in conjunction with the opening of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, where the French railway has faced a "massive large-scale attack" targeting the French rail network, especially the high-speed trains "TGV," causing disruptions "at least throughout the weekend."
