A French police officer has been charged after a 16-year-old student was blinded by a rubber bullet during nationwide riots involving school pupils.
The officer was charged with aggravated violence on Tuesday over allegations that he fired the projectile at the teenager during a protest in Tours, France, on September 30.
The injured student’s family has held the police responsible for the teenager’s injuries.
France has endured days of disorder and violence linked to deteriorating school conditions. High school students have been joined by far-Left activists and extremists linked to Antifa in confrontations with riot police across the country.
Police have faced repeated clashes with demonstrators wearing balaclavas, some of whom have set schools alight and attacked teachers.
Students, trade unions, rights organisations and parents have accused officers of using excessive force against young protesters, several of whom have suffered serious injuries.
Earlier this month, a 15-year-old student lost his hand after reportedly trying to throw a police stun grenade back at officers near Auguste Behal High School in Lens, northern France.
The boy, identified as Evan, picked up the police grenade intending to hurl it back, but the device exploded and severed his hand.
A car burns on Boulevard du Montparnasse during a protest on October 13, 2026
Protesters clash with police outside the Ecole Militaire on October 13, 2026
Protesters form a human chain while facing French riot police during clashes on Boulevard Saint-Germain, outside Sciences Po university in Paris
Video from the scene showed several people assisting the injured teenager as he lay on the pavement. His left hand appeared to have been severed, leaving a bloodied stump.
Several people could be heard screaming in the footage. The boy was later seen slowly making his way away from the scene.
Other reports claimed he may have lost his arm as far as the elbow, although that detail has not been confirmed.
The teenager’s family said on Wednesday that it had begun legal proceedings to seek an “impartial” investigation.
Bertrand Wattez, one of the family’s lawyers, said Evan disputed the police version of events reported by prosecutors. That account said he had attempted to pick up the grenade when it exploded on October 5. Evan also denied participating in student protests in Lens.
The lawyer said the blast had not only cost Evan his left hand but had also severed several fingers on his right hand.
The incident came after far-Left rioters set fire to the entrance of a Paris school during mass student protests, leaving teachers and pupils trapped inside.
Video filmed outside Vauquelin High School in Paris that morning appeared to show demonstrators setting the entrance ablaze.
According to the Interior Ministry, police have launched internal investigations into 36 allegations of violence by officers against demonstrators.
A protester launches a firework during clashes with police near Paris earlier this month
Firefighters arrived to extinguish a fire in front of Jean-Louis Cyffle high school in Nancy, eastern France
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A protester kicks a tear gas canister in Nancy
Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said Wednesday that 248 students had been injured during the protests, ‘most often in cases of urban violence’.
A total of 937 police officers had also been injured, as had 149 members of teaching staff, Lecornu told a parliamentary question session.
Through smashed glass, flames were seen licking the front doors of the school. The flames appeared to be coming from a blockade.
After several seconds, two men with fire extinguishers were seen trying in vain to douse the flames from inside the building.
However, the blaze grew in size and ferocity. Behind it, young thugs were seen throwing things into the blockade, fuelling the flames.
Local media reported that around 100 students needed to be evacuated from the school, adding that demonstrators were shooting fireworks at firefighters during the operation.
Carole Zerbib, head of the vandalised school, said it had been attacked by a ‘very determined’ group wearing hoods and masks who tried to break through its main entrance and then lit a fire.
Police and firefighters quickly put out the fire and the school was evacuated and classes were suspended.
Police spray CS gas as they clash with students on Boulevard Saint-Germain during a protest outside Sciences Po
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‘It was very violent and happened very quickly,’ she said, adding that the attack lasted between 15 and 20 minutes.
‘It was terrible for students who witnessed this outburst of violence,’ she said, adding that those behind the attack on her school did not study there.
French President Emmanuel Macron believes the students waging three weeks of protests that have closed many schools have ‘legitimate’ grievances but are also being ‘exploited’ by political forces, a government spokeswoman said Wednesday.
The leader, who is in his final six months of office, has asked the government to come up with ‘concrete responses’ to the unrest by high school pupils within weeks, spokeswoman Maud Bregeon told reporters.
She spoke following Macron’s weekly meeting with his cabinet, a day after nationwide solidarity demonstrations showed significant support for the students.
The interior ministry said 161,500 people turned out for Tuesday’s demonstrations held in Paris and other cities. Unions organising the rallies put the figure at 480,000.
Some violent scenes erupted on the sidelines of marches in Paris and Lyon, with police firing tear gas in response.
In his cabinet meeting, Macron ‘stressed that young people have legitimate concerns, but said these are being exploited for political purposes and turned into urban violence’, Bregeon said.
With French presidential elections due in April and May next year, some opposition parties have seized upon the demonstrations.
