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The police officer used his gun as he and a colleague were
attacked by a group of around 15 people before the shot was
fired, NC La 1ere broadcaster quoted the prosecutor as saying.
The prosecutor's office did not immediately reply to a request
for comment.
The death of the 48-year-old man, which other local media also
reported, brought to seven the number killed in 12 days of
upheaval triggered by a contested electoral reform and fuelled
by sharp economic disparities between the indigenous Kanak
population and people of European background.
Macron, on a one-day visit on Thursday, hit the pause button on
the reform, which would allow thousands more French residents
who have lived in New Caledonia for 10 years to vote, diluting
the vote of Kanaks, who comprise 41% of the population.
He stopped short of following demands by those seeking
independence that it be withdrawn altogether but said he wanted
to use the following weeks to try and reach an overall political
deal on the island's future.
The French government has sent in thousands of extra police
forces over the past days to help restore calm. Earlier in the
day authorities had said the situation was "relatively calm."
Police removed around 100 roadblocks across New Caledonia on
Friday.
The island territory is marked by deep economic disparities,
according to census data. The poverty rate among indigenous
Kanaks, the largest community, is 32.5%, compared to 9% among
non-Kanaks, according to the 2019 census.
France colonized New Caledonia in 1853 and made the colony an
overseas territory in 1946, granting rights to Kanaks.
(Reporting by Augustin Turpin, Ingrid Melander, Tassilo Hummel;
editing by Mark Heinrich and Philippa Fletcher)
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