FRANCE-SHOOTING/POLICEWOMAN-FUNERAL Funeral held for policewoman killed in Paris shooting

Record ID: 324400

  • Title: FRANCE-SHOOTING/POLICEWOMAN-FUNERAL Funeral held for policewoman killed in Paris shooting
  • Date: 19th January 2015
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (French) UNIDENTIFIED MAN AT FUNERAL, SAYING: "Yes I was shocked, because I have children as young as Clarissa and it could happen to them too."
  • Embargoed: 3rd February 2015 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France
  • Country: France
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAE26CMGYXQ1X18PHEM7XSMF8M6
  • Story Text: Hundreds of people in the French overseas territory of Martinique attended the funeral on Sunday (January 18) of a policewoman killed in Paris.
    Clarissa Jean-Philippe was shot dead during three days of violence in the French capital two weeks ago, during which 17 people were killed in attacks by Islamist militants.
    In Martinique, residents marched in the streets, some wearing T-shirts and badges reading "Je suis Clarissa".
    Many expressed their shock and sadness at what had happened.
    "I was shocked, because I have children as young as Clarissa and it could happen to them too," said one man.
    "A family in mourning, a young person who was making plans. It's an age where we have dreams, and then a man comes out of nowhere and takes away her life," said another.
    Jean-Philippe was killed on January 8, a day after an attack on satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo.
    Her killer is believed to have been Amedy Coulibaly, who killed four people after taking hostages at a kosher supermarket.
    Among those who paid tribute to the slain policewoman was the mayor of Sainte-Marie, a town in the north of Martinique.
    "From now on, you're back forever. Rest in the midst of your family. Tonight your family has grown. Martinique is all here to greet you," said Bruno-Nestor Azerot.
    The French Minister for Overseas Territories George Pau-Langevin was also present.
    "It's true that her life was incomplete. At the same time she died doing the job she had chosen. She died with pride and honour. It is this image of Clarissa we need to remember," she told mourners.
    Investigators in France are currently poring over the chain of events that led to three French nationals - two brothers with Algerian roots and a third of West African extraction - perpetrating the worst attacks in the country for decades.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register