Police kill gangster after rocket attack

A gangster was shot dead by police yesterday after he killed the senior aide to the mayor of the French southern town of Beziers in a rocket launcher attack that demolished his car. But Samir Berkera, 27, had mistaken 42-year-old Jean Farret for a plainclothes detective as he refuelled his car at a petrol station, said police.

Twelve hours earlier, on Saturday night, officers had been called by residents on a housing estate, who said two rival gangs were locked in a street fight and that shots had been fired. A police car arrived but was immediately hit by a rocket. The four officers inside were uninjured.

Police then fanned out around the town. At midnight the main police station was hit by a burst of automatic gunfire, and minutes later, a rocket-launched missile aimed at the building destroyed a nearby car. Berkera called police several times, threatening to kill all the officers in Beziers and blow up the building. Twenty officers from a special assault squad were brought in from Marseille.

The Beziers police chief, Jean-Louis Gaches, said: "We convinced him to come to a rendezvous at a parking lot on the edge of town for a talk." Berkera was on his way there when he saw Mr Farret, jumped to the wrong conclusion and opened fire, said Mr Gaches.

At the parking lot, Berkera fired several shots as soon as he saw police waiting. He died as police returned fire. Officers were still searching for an accomplice of Berkera, who had been convicted of theft with violence, and robbery. (AP)