[ad_1]
Several policemen were shot dead in a town in central France during a dramatic rescue attempt. Apparently they wanted to help a woman who had taken refuge on the roof of a house.
Three policemen were fatally wounded during an operation in a French town. Another official was injured, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said.
According to the AFP news agency, the gendarmes wanted to save a woman who had fled to the roof of a house. The police had previously been alerted to a case of alleged domestic violence.
The suspect is on the run
When the police came to the woman’s aid, an attacker shot one police officer and hit another on the leg. The alleged perpetrator then apparently set fire to his home in the town of Saint-Just in the central French department of Puy-de-Dôme, according to the agency. Then he is said to have shot other police officers who had arrived since then, fatally wounding two of them.
The fire brigade is on duty to put out the fire. The woman is safe. According to Darmanin, the security forces, including the elite police, are deployed on a large scale. Since then, the suspect has been found dead.
Darmanin offers his condolences to relatives
The murdered gendarmes were 21, 37 and 45 years old. The suspect had been suspected in the past due to a child custody dispute.
Darmanin expressed his condolences to the relatives of the murdered gendarmes. He wrote on Twitter that the nation bowed to the courage and commitment of the police.
The wounded policeman was taken to a hospital. The gendarmerie in France belongs to the army, but it assumes police functions and is therefore also subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior.
