The authorities in France have opened a criminal investigation after a 17-year-old driver was shot and killed by a police officer during a traffic stop near Paris, an episode that touched off a night of violence and fuelled a longstanding debate on the use of deadly force by the country’s security forces.

Initial news reports, based on what was described as anonymous police sources, had suggested that the driver ploughed into two officers with his car on Tuesday during the stop in Nanterre, west of the capital. But an unconfirmed video of the shooting that appeared later led to accusations that the police had acted too aggressively, and prosecutors in Nanterre have opened a manslaughter investigation.

The video, believed to have been filmed by a witness, spread quickly on social networks and was picked up by the French news media. It shows two helmeted police officers on the left side of a yellow car that is stopped on the street. The video was also obtained by The New York Times from a person who said she was close to the witness and who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of repercussions for sharing the footage.

The officers, both peering into the driver’s window, are heard shouting, although what they said to the victim, identified by lawyers for his family as Naël M., is unclear. One of the officers leans onto the windshield and points what appears to be a firearm at the driver, and as the car starts moving away, a loud bang is audible.

That officer is in police custody, though he has not been charged.

New York Times News Service