Police officer in custody after fatally shooting man in France's New Caledonia amid unrest

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First Australian flight evacuating citizens from New Caledonia touches down

The French territory of New Caledonia has been consumed by riots sparked by electoral changes by the French government. Australia has begun to evacuate its citizens who are stuck there. (Credit: Australian Broadcasting Corporation/Reuters)

• A police officer in New Caledonia has been taken into custody after shooting and killing a man during an altercation with a group.
• The officer is believed to have fired one shot, resulting in the death of a 48-year-old man on Friday.
• The incident occurred a day after French President Emmanuel Macron made an emergency trip to New Caledonia to address the escalating violence.

The French prosecutor for New Caledonia says a police officer has been taken into custody after shooting and killing a man when the officer was set upon by a group of about 15 people.

Yves Dupas says the officer is believed to have fired one shot, killing a 48-year-old man on Friday afternoon. It’s the seventh shooting death reported since unrest erupted May 13 on the archipelago over contested voted reforms.

It comes a day after French President Emmanuel Macron made an emergency round-trip from Paris to de-escalate the violence in New Caledonia, where Indigenous Kanak people have long sought independence from France.

MAN FATALLY SHOT BY POLICE IN VIOLENCE-HIT NEW CALEDONIA

A written statement from the prosecutor did not specify whether the officer is a man or a woman. It said the officer and a colleague were driving in an area north of the capital, Nouméa, on Friday afternoon — just hours after Macron took off on his return to Paris — when they "were physically attacked by a group of around 15 individuals."

Smoke rises during protests in Noumea, New Caledonia, on May 15, 2024. The French prosecutor for New Caledonia says a police officer has been taken into custody after shooting and killing a man when the officer was set upon by a group of about 15 people. (AP Photo/Nicolas Job, File)

"The official allegedly used their service weapon by firing a shot to extract themselves from this physical altercation. A 48-year-old man was fatally shot," the statement said.

It said the officers' faces showed traces of having received blows.

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The prosecutor said he has opened a voluntary homicide investigation into the shooting — customary for French officers in such cases — and the officer is in custody for questioning.