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A heavily armed gunman in southern France killed three policemen responding to a domestic violence call at his home and then fled, and was found dead nearby Wednesday after an apparent suicide, the regional prosecutor said.
The unusual killing of three officers on duty sparked a wide search and raised national concern, particularly from French leaders who are under pressure from the police to do more to protect them. President Emmanuel Macron tweeted: “They are our heroes.”
The bloodshed began when a woman called a friend for help Tuesday night and reported that her partner had beaten her at the couple’s home in the mountain village of Ambert, southwest of Lyon, she told the journalists the regional prosecutor Eric Maillaud.
The friend called police, and when gendarmes arrived, they found the woman on the roof, where she had taken refuge after the man apparently set the house on fire, the prosecutor said.
“It was a real war scenario that we faced overnight,” he said. “An over-armed individual. A house on fire “.
In the ensuing confrontation, three policemen were killed and another wounded, and the gunman fled. Some 300 policemen were sent to the area to search for the attacker, according to a spokesman for the national gendarmerie.
The man was found Wednesday morning in his car, crashed on the side of a mountain, Maillaud said. He had an unregistered semi-automatic rifle that the prosecutor described as a “weapon of war,” as well as a Glock pistol, a hunting rifle, and four knives. The woman was taken to the police and received medical treatment.
The preliminary investigation suggested that the attacker had received brief military training, had “extremist” Catholic views and was known as a survivor who “apparently was convinced that the end of the world was near,” the prosecutor said. The assailant had been in a custody battle with his former partner, but police had no history of problems with the woman who was attacked Tuesday, Maillaud said.
The French Interior Ministry reported that 146 women were killed by their partners last year, sparking a national campaign against domestic violence.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin went to the scene of the killings on Wednesday and praised the actions of the police.
Even as law enforcement officers seek greater protections, activists are increasingly speaking out about the brutality of some police officers, especially against minorities in low-income neighborhoods.
In a recent case, four officers were charged with the violent beating of a black music producer that was captured on camera in images that shocked the French public. Two were detained but were released this week pending further investigation.
The producer, Michel Zecler, said Wednesday that the officers were being “spoiled” rather than punished. Speaking on BFM television, he said: “I cannot understand what drives so much benevolence from the state.”
