2023-08-19 11:26:00
Restless night in Oupeye where Domenico, a driver of a quad, was shot down Friday late afternoon by a police officer after having run over and injured another. This gave rise to tensions between the young people of the commune and the police. Tensions that obviously continued overnight. Serge Fillot, mayor of Oupeye, described the night from Friday to Saturday as “hot” on the airwaves of Bel RTL.
“I’ve never seen that in Oupeye, these are real scenes of urban guerrilla warfare and riots that we witnessed. We only see that in big cities or on TV news, and we experienced that in a village of 6,000 inhabitants”, reacts the mayor. “It was the police who were directly targeted, with the setting up of traps to try to trap the police and attack the men, the use of molotov cocktails, to avenge the death of the young man who died this Friday. “
Police ‘shocked’
In order to contain the demonstrators, the local authorities had to ask for reinforcements from the surrounding police zones, including that of Liège, and from the federal reserve. The police notably had to use fire engines and tear gas to disperse the demonstrators, and the firefighters intervened to extinguish the beginnings of a fire. “The events took place between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m. and were concentrated around the Château d’Oupeye, identified as the center of power in the town. There are no police officers injured, but the men are shocked”further specifies the mayor.
Saturday morning, calm had returned to the town. Teams were hard at work clearing the roads strewn with various debris. Serge Fillot, mayor of Oupeye, fears new tensions for this Saturday evening: “We will take other measures for the hours to come. Hoping that the spirits can a little flatten and return to calm. More serenity also out of respect for the family’s mourning.” According to the mayor, a certain amount of information is circulating in the direction of new scenes of chaos. “We have already contacted other police zones to deal with the events that would take place.”
Back to the facts
A person was fatally shot by a police officer on Friday around 4:30 p.m. in Oupeye, a witness told us via the orange Alert us button.
Friday evening, the parquet floor of Liège communicated the first elements on the facts. “The police have been known to spot a quad driver who is driving in a dangerous manner. They decide to challenge him and control him, as is usually done. It’s a routine check that ends up going wrong, since the driver of the quad, when the police try to arrest him, will run into the police. It is in any case the first testimonies that give us this version. He will overthrow one of the two police officers, who finds himself under the quad, and his colleague will fire at that moment“, indicated Damien Leboutte, division prosecutor in Liège.
Following the events in rue Perreau, the two police officers were taken to hospital. “The first for physical injury, and the second in a state of shock following the shot he had to fire“, specifies the prosecutor. As for the driver of the quad, he died on the spot and the SMUR sent could not do anything.
What is the driver profile? “At this stage, I do not have the information on the person“, replies the prosecutor. According to our sources, the man was in his twenties, married and a father.
A police file opened following the use of the service weapon
A forensic scientist went to the scene, as well as a ballistics expert, an automobile expert and the federal police laboratory. “The investigation is ongoing and the justice system has taken over“, indicates Damien Leboutte. The objective is to determine the exact circumstances of the facts. “We have a police officer who is going to have to be heard as a suspect. This is the principle: from the moment a police officer uses his weapon, and even more in the case of the death of a person, we open a file against the police officer because we have to clarity on what really happened“, confided this Friday evening the prosecutor. The file is in the hands of Committee P. It is the Standing Committee for the Control of Police Services, supervised by the federal parliament.
The autopsy is scheduled for Monday. Classic investigative duties are ongoing, such as neighborhood surveys and the use of cameras potentially present nearby.
Tempers are heating up
Following the events, a security perimeter was set up. In the moments that followed, young people from the commune gathered near the perimeter. Some expressed their anger following the fatal shooting. The mayor said he spoke with the companion of the deceased man. She “calls for calm, she would like the investigation to take place in a certain serenity“.
Police called in reinforcements to provide security to the scene and forensic officers. “Oupeye is a quiet commune in the region. It is an unusual fact that we have to call for reinforcements and that there is a kind of beginning of a riot in Oupeye. It’s totally unexpected, but I took the necessary measures to calm things down. I had started a fruitful dialogue with young people, some of whose parents I know because I have been in the town for 50 years. For reasons unknown to me, tempers have flared up again“, told us Serge Fillot. “Several police areas come in reinforcement with dog handlers. We are awaiting reinforcements from the federal government and I have taken administrative measures to prohibit gatherings and restore order. I am counting on the young people of the commune, despite the mourning and the drama, to try to keep a cool head and to establish responsibilities“.
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