French officer under investigation after tear gas grenade smashed 14-year-old Eden's jaw as he sat on a wall watching protests on his phone

From the Newshound archive · first published 10 October 2026 · last updated 11 October 2026.

A French police officer has been placed under formal investigation for assault after firing a tear gas grenade at close range into the face of 14-year-old Eden, who was sitting on a wall metres away from student protests in Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône, shattering his jaw and multiple teeth. The boy's family, represented by lawyer Elsa Marcel, has filed a complaint for attempted murder, alleging the officer walked away without calling emergency services. The case is one of 24 now under investigation by France's internal police watchdog, IGPN, amid a more-than-two-week wave of school-conditions protests that Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has called the most violent in decades.

The officer was placed under formal investigation eight days after the incident, on charges of assault by a public official resulting in permanent disability or disfigurement.

France's use of rubber bullets and Cougar grenade launchers has drawn repeated condemnation from Amnesty International and UN human rights experts as dangerous and disproportionate.

Eden's lawyer Elsa Marcel said the officer 'shot him in the mouth and left him lying on the ground, without even calling the emergency services.'