Tensions boil over with police killing

40,000 French cops deployed to end violence after teen shot dead in his car

- SYLVIE CORBET and ALEX TURNBULL

FRANCE will deploy 40,000 police officers overnight to quell violence that engulfed cities in the wake of a deadly police shooting, the interior minister said yesterday.

Justice Minister Eric DupondMoretti gave a figure of 130 police officers injured, declaring: "All this has to stop.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, who oversees the police, later gave a higher figure of 170 injured. He said none of the injuries were life-threatening.

This comes as the French police officer who shot and killed a 17-year-old driver will be investigated for voluntary homicide, following two days of fires and violent protests, prosecutors said yesterday.

Overnight, protesters set cars and public buildings ablaze in Paris suburbs.

The killing of Nahel during a traffic check on Tuesday, captured on video, shocked the country and stirred up long-simmering tensions between young people and police in housing projects and other disadvantaged neighbourhood.