The protests in the Val d'Oise area were sparked because of the death of a 24-year-old after being arrested, said deputy prosecutor François Capin-Dulhoste. Angry youths threw Molotov cocktails at police and set fire to cars and rubbish bins during the night.
 
Capin-Dulhoste said five police sustained gunshot wounds from firearms, and a sixth was wounded in physical violence from a protester. Jean-Simon Merandat, director of the Val d'Oise prefect's office, said the firearms used by the protesters were probably hunting weapons.
 
The deputy prosecutor clarified that the cause of death was still being investigated but the man had suffered a heart problem during transportation to the police station.
 
Family members accused police forces of hitting the man as they detained him for trying to prevent the arrest of his brother on suspicion of violence and extortion.
 
“About a hundred individuals … came looking for the law enforcement forces after a person died at the premises of the gendarmerie in Beaumont (town)” the director of the Val d'Oise prefect's office said. “Things are calm now and we have about 130 gendarmes and other police on the spot” he added.
 
It was not clear if protesters were wounded in the standoff, the police said. Reports vary regarding the number of arrests. More than 180 police officers were mobilized to respond to the second night of protests and riots in a row. The fire department also had to intervene to put off several fires.
 
Weeks of rioting erupted in Paris's often grim suburbs in 2005 after the death of youths electrocuted when they hid from police in a power hub.