Rabat – A police motorcycle officer discharged his firearm to subdue a criminal under the influence of narcotics, brandishing a bladed weapon, Tuesday, in the Al-Rahma neighborhood of Salé.
Morocco’s Directorate of National Security (DGSN) issued a communiqué saying, “According to the preliminary findings, the police motorcycle squad entered the Al-Rahma neighborhood at the behest of its population to stop a repeat offender, allegedly under the influence of drugs and in possession of a large knife.” The criminal was also accused of damaging local properties and frightening people.
The DGSN went on to say, “The criminal refused to lower his bladed weapon and attempted to harm police. The police officer felt obliged to use his firearm and tire two warning shots into the air. A third bullet struck the perpetrator in his chest. Despite being brought to hospital for treatment, the chest wound proved fatal.”
According to DGSN, “the deceased’s corpse was sent to the morgue for autopsy, noting that the special public prosecutor has opened an investigation in order to obtain eyewitness evidence and investigate how police responded to the incident.”
This is not the first time the police have used their firearms in similar situations. Only last week, they fatally shot a 20-year-old young man threatening citizens in a public place in the outskirts of Beni Mellal.
Following an unprecedented increase in crime, Moroccans have found themselves facing a dilemma. Should they support the decision of the police to shoot criminals who threaten the safety of citizens in public places with any type of weapon? Or, should they instead call for officials to apply rigid sentences against the criminals as deterrents?
This increase in criminal behaviour has spurred social media users to launch a campaign with the slogan “Zero Grissage,” or in English, “Zero Assault,” last July. The campaign acknowledged King Mohammed VI as the supreme authority in Morocco and implored him to intervene to find resolutions to the phenomenon of criminal attacks and call for the security department to be more effective.
