BOBIGNY: A man recently released from detention for domestic violence has been shot dead by French police after his former girlfriend called for help using a special emergency phone issued two weeks before, prosecutors said on Thursday.

The 26-year-old man fired at police when they arrived on Wednesday at a block of flats in Noisy-le-Grand, east of Paris, prosecutor Eric Mathais said in a statement.

Officers were responding to a call from a special “serious danger phone” (TGD) issued “urgently” to the 24-year-old woman just two weeks before, he added.

Although one of them was hit in the forearm, the two officers fired four shots in response, prosecutors said. They hit the assailant in the carotid artery, chest, buttock and back, a police source said.

One cartridge was found under the man’s body and an automatic pistol was found on the scene, along with the four casings from the police shots, the source added.

TGD phones can be issued in France to women who have suffered domestic violence or rape. A special button connects them to an operator who can in turn summon police immediately should the woman be in danger. The device also shares the woman’s location with law enforcement.

Published in Dawn, February 9th, 2024