French police officer indicted after tear gas projectile injures 14-year-old student

Indictment and judicial supervision

A French police officer has been placed under formal investigation for severely injuring a 14-year-old high school student with a tear gas launcher in Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône, Val-d'Oise. The Pontoise public prosecutor's office announced the indictment on 6 October 2026, exactly eight days after the confrontation occurred during high school blockades. The officer is charged with violence by a person holding public authority resulting in mutilation or permanent infirmity. A judge placed the officer under judicial supervision, which includes a formal ban from active policing duties until further notice. The measure followed the officer's placement in custody on 5 October 2026 after being summoned to a police station, before being transferred to court on Tuesday afternoon.

The confrontation outside the school

The incident occurred on the morning of Monday, 28 September 2026, at the entrance of the Lycée Château d'Épluches. According to the student's parents, the 14-year-old boy, named Eden, arrived to attend classes but found the gates blocked by student protests and attempted to step aside to return home. Mobile phone footage viewed hundreds of thousands of times on social media captured three helmeted police officers engaging the teenager. The prosecution stated that officers repeatedly tried to push the student back, after which he kicked a female officer who had attempted to strike him with a baton. An officer standing slightly behind fired a Cougar tear gas grenade launcher horizontally at close range, striking the teenager directly in the face and causing him to fall to the ground.

Extent of injuries and conflicting accounts

Emergency medical responders dispatched to the scene found the teenager with catastrophic facial trauma, prompting his immediate transfer to the Centre hospitalier de Pontoise. Eden suffered a double jaw fracture, lost multiple teeth, had all upper teeth broken, and had four lower teeth knocked out. Medical staff immobilized his jaw completely, leaving only enough space to feed on liquids through a straw, with doctors scheduling extensive reconstructive surgery. Defense attorney Elsa Marcel presented testimony from teachers and students indicating that Eden was initially sitting on a low wall checking his phone before officers approached him.

One can already ask why three armed police officers approached him and began hitting him with rifle butts.

Witnesses including school teachers reported that the injured teenager lay convulsing on the pavement after the shot while officers failed to intervene immediately.

Dual investigations and legal complaints

The Pontoise public prosecutor, Guirec Le Bras, launched two distinct criminal investigations on 28 September 2026. The primary investigation, assigned to the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN), examines the officer's horizontal weapon discharge and potential aggravated violence. A parallel investigation examines the alleged kick directed at the female officer prior to the shot. On 1 October 2026, France's independent administrative authority, the Défenseur des droits, initiated a separate investigation into the police conduct. Eden's family filed a criminal complaint citing attempted voluntary homicide and aggravated violence, demanding a full judicial inquiry into the severe physical and psychological consequences suffered by the minor.