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The man opened fire on two officers who arrived at the home shortly after midnight after being alerted to an alleged domestic assault.
French gendarmes stand in front of the town hall in Saint-Just, central France, on December 23, 2020, after three gendarmes were killed and a fourth wounded by an armed man they confronted in response to a call of domestic violence. Image: AFP.
LYON, France – Three police officers were killed and a fourth injured in central France on Wednesday by a gunman they confronted in response to a domestic violence call, authorities said.
The suspect, a 48-year-old man known to authorities for child custody disputes, was “discovered dead” several hours after fleeing his home in an isolated village near Saint-Just, a village south of the city. city of Clermont-Ferrand, Interior. Minister Gerald Darmanin said in a tweet.
He did not elaborate on how the man died.
“Our security forces risk their lives to protect us. These are our heroes,” President Emmanuel Macron said in a tweet.
The man opened fire on two officers who arrived at the home shortly after midnight after being alerted to an alleged domestic assault.
One died immediately and the other was shot in the thigh before the man set fire to the house, where a woman had climbed onto the roof.
Then two more officers, who responded to the scene, were shot and killed, according to the prosecutor’s office in Clermont-Ferrand.
Police and fire brigade reinforcements were brought to the scene and all roads leading to the house were blocked.
The woman was rescued safely and the police were questioning her.
The victims were 21, 37 and 45 years old, the Interior Ministry said.
Apart from terrorist attacks, shootings at police officers in France are relatively rare.
Last May, a man shot at police from his home in the Gironde region of southwestern France, wounding an officer. When he was about to shoot again, the police shot him dead.
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