Youths clash with French police, loot shops in 4th day of riots triggered by fatal police shooting
- On Friday evening, looters broke into a Marseille gun shop and made off with weapons. A man was later arrested with a hunting rifle, police said
- Unrest has flared nationwide after police in Paris shot dead a teenager of African descent on Tuesday, igniting complaints of police violence and racism
Despite repeated government appeals for calm and stiffer policing, Friday saw brazen daylight violence, too. An Apple shop was looted in the eastern city of Strasbourg, where police fired tear gas, and the windows of a fast-food outlet were smashed in a Paris-area shopping centre, where officers repelled people trying to break into a closed shop, authorities said.
The southern port city of Marseille, initially spared the violence that broke out first in the Paris region, was experiencing its second night of upheaval. Even before nightfall, young people hurled projectiles, set fires, and looted shops, police said. They made almost 90 arrests.
On Friday evening, looters broke into a Marseille gun shop and made off with weapons, and a man was later arrested with a hunting rifle, police said. The previous night, two off-duty officers suffered serious injuries, including one who was stabbed, when they were set upon by about 20 people, police said.
Authorities in the city of Lyon reported rioters again setting fires and pelting police in the suburbs. In the city centre, police made 21 arrests to stop the attempted looting of shops after an unauthorised protest against police violence that drew about 1,300 people on Friday evening.
Violence was also erupting in some of France’s territories overseas.
