PARIS, May 25, (AP): A police officer in riot-hit New Caledonia shot and killed a man Friday after being attacked by a group of about 15 people, the territory's prosecutor said, the seventh shooting death in the unrest shaking the French Pacific archipelago. The officer was in custody and an investigation was underway.
The fatal shooting came hours after an emergency round-trip from Paris by French President Emmanuel Macron to de-escalate the violence.
Prosecutor Yves Dupas says the officer is believed to have fired one shot, killing the 48-year-old man on Friday afternoon. On Thursday, Macron made a whistle-stop visit and urged local leaders to use their clout to help quell the unrest that erupted May 13, sparked by proposed voting reforms contested by Indigenous Kanak people who have long sought independence from France.
Macron laid out a roadmap that he said could culminate in another referendum for the territory, after three previous votes from 2018 to 2021 rejected independence. He said another could be on a new political deal for the territory that he hopes local leaders will work on in coming weeks and months.
But he said protesters’ barricades must first be dismantled, allowing for a state of emergency imposed by Paris to be lifted and for order to return.
In the meantime, Macron said he wouldn't rush through the contested overhaul of New Caledonia's voter rolls, opening a window for the possibility of an alternate political deal, perhaps more palatable to pro-independence leaders who fear the electoral change will marginalize Kanak voters. The French leader said he would take stock in one month "at the most" of any progress.