French authorities called for calm Wednesday after riots erupted in the western city of Nantes following a deadly police shooting, highlighting simmering tensions in deprived urban areas. Rioters set fire to some 30 cars and several buildings on Tuesday night after news spread that an officer had shot dead a 22-year-old man after stopping his car. Youths threw molotov cocktails and clashed with police in the northwestern neighbourhood of Breil where the shooting happened before the unrest spread to two other poor districts.
Burned-out cars and splintered glass from smashed windows littered the streets on Wednesday morning.
Interior Minister Gerard Collomb condemned the violence saying "all the necessary resources" were being mobilised to "calm the situation and prevent any further incidents".
The young man's car had been under surveillance as part of a drug-trafficking investigation, a police source said.
Officers approached him at around 8.30 pm and found he was not wearing a seatbelt or carrying an ID card.
"The driver reversed into a police officer while trying to flee," the source said. "His colleague opened fire."
The youngster was hit in the carotid artery and died in hospital two hours later.
Some local residents have angrily contested the police account of the killing.
A woman who filmed the incident, who wished to remain anonymous, said "there were no police behind the car, he didn't hit anyone. There was only the one gunshot."
Another person who said they witnessed the arrest said the young man had handed over his ID documents.
A national watchdog which investigates claims of police wrongdoing is investigating to clarify "the facts and determine in what circumstances the policeman used his weapon," Nantes prosecutor Pierre Sennes said.
The driver had been wanted by police in Creteil, near Paris, for robbery and other offences, Sennes said. The officer who shot him has been placed under psychological evaluation, local authorities said.