THE French prosecutor for New Caledonia said a police officer had been taken into custody after shooting and killing a man after being set upon by about 15 people.

Yves Dupas says the officer is believed to have fired one shot, killing a 48-year-old man this afternoon. It’s the seventh shooting death reported since unrest erupted May 13 on the archipelago over contested voting reforms.

It comes a day after French President Emmanuel Macron made an emergency round-trip from Paris in an attempt to de-escalate the violence in New Caledonia, where Indigenous Kanak people have long sought independence from France.

A written statement from the prosecutor did not specify whether the officer is a man or a woman.

It said the officer and a colleague were driving in an area north of the capital, Noumea, in the afternoon, just hours after Mr Macron took off on his return to Paris, when they “were physically attacked.”

“The official allegedly used their service weapon by firing a shot to extract themselves from this physical altercation. A 48-year-old man was fatally shot,” the statement said.

It said the officers’ faces showed traces of having received blows.

The prosecutor said he has opened a voluntary homicide investigation into the shooting, customary for French officers in such cases, and the officer is in custody for questioning.

Protests and rioting began last week after the French government imposed new laws on who is allowed to vote in local elections, sparking fears that the Kanak people’s democratic voice will be diluted by French voters in residence.