Killing of Sulivan Sauvey

The killing of Sulivan Sauvey, a 19-year-old French teenager, was caused by a point-blank shot from a policewoman on June 9, 2024, in Cherbourg.

According to the police version, after the driver of a stolen vehicle refused to comply, Sulivan Sauvey, one of the passengers, got out of the car and began to flee on foot, and pushed a police officer to escape. He was targeted by a taser shot, at the same moment a policewoman opened fire on him, resulting in his death. However, some elements would maybe contradict this version, notably a circulating video and a local resident who testified on June 12, 2024, that the police officers had shot the young man 'two seconds' after asking him to stop. According to the witness, the police officers would have then insulted Sauvey while he was on the ground, telling him to 'shut the fuck up', realizing his condition, they then asked the young man where he was hurt, before he died. The police investigation has so far not questioned any witnesses other than the police officers present at the scene.

The policewoman responsible for the shooting was charged with murder and placed in pre-trial detention, but released shortly afterward and placed under judicial supervision, causing outrage from the victim's family and part of Cherbourg's society.

Protagonists
Sulivan Sauvey was a 19-year-old teenager from Normandy. Prior to his death, he worked in boilermaking, starting after obtaining his baccalauréat.

Police version
According to the police, Sulivan Sauvey was in a stolen vehicle, a Seat Ateca, with two other young men, but was not the driver. After being chased by the police and blocked by a second vehicle, they got out and fled. Sauvey, unarmed, began to flee. According to the Cherbourg prosecutor, he pushed a police officer while escaping.

Sauvey was then tasered by a police officer, and at the same moment, a policewoman at the scene decided to open fire at point-blank range, resulting in his death. A police source stated to Le Parisien that the alley was dark, supposedly explaining the shooting.

These elements all come from the police version. According to Libération, no images of the incident were found by the police inquiry, and no local witnesses of the shooting were interviewed.

Contradiction of the police version
According to Ouest-France, a video taken by a witness resident of the scene, "would be damning regarding the sequence of events following the failure to comply". The prosecutor of Cherbourg, however, stated that he was not aware of such a video. Moreover, a local resident testified to BFM TV that 'between the 'stop' and the gunshot, there were two seconds'. According to this witness, the police officers first insulted the young man, asking him to show his hands and telling him to 'shut the fuck up', before realizing his condition and asking him where he was hurt, before he died.

Legal proceedings
The policewoman was placed in custody and then indicted for murder. She reportedly stated that she believed he was armed. On June 11, 2024, the Cherbourg prosecutor's office requested her temporary detention, which was followed by the examining magistrate's decision. However, she was released by a judge of liberties the following day, who instead placed her under judicial supervision with a prohibition on exercising her duties.

The family's lawyer, Yassine Bouzrou, requested a change of venue for the case to the Caen public prosecutor's office, arguing that the Coutances public prosecutor's office was too closely connected to the implicated police officers. The lawyer questioned why the policewoman had been transferred to a hospital without a prior interrogation after the events.

Suites
Following the police officer's release, it sparked outrage from Sulivan's mother, Nathalie, who filed a murder complaint, along with a portion of the Cherbourg society. A white march was organized on June 12, 2024, starting from the Saint-Pierre and Saint-Paul church in Octeville to the street where he died. It gathered approximately 800 people. Scuffles with law enforcement were reported following the officer's release, but no property damage occurred.