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PARIS: Three policemen were killed and a fourth injured in central France on Wednesday (December 23) by a gunman who was confronted in response to a domestic violence call, the deadliest attack in years against French police outside of terrorism incidents.
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 of about 160 people. south of the city of Clermont. -Ferrand, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said in a tweet.
French officials did not mention any suspicious militant motives behind the incident.
The incident began when a group of gendarmerie police officers arrived at a house in a small village near the town of Saint-Just in the early hours of the morning, following a call for domestic violence.
When police arrived, a man started shooting at them and then set the house on fire, according to BFMTV.
The woman, who was a victim of domestic violence, sought refuge on the roof of the house and was safely rescued by the police. The home was destroyed by the fire, BFMTV reported.
Reinforcements from police and firefighters were brought to the scene and all roads leading to the home were blocked, according to the prosecutor’s office in Clermont-Ferrand.
“This is a gendarmerie operation that is related to domestic violence, which has seen some developments that are still in progress,” a representative of the regional prefect’s office told Reuters.
The Interior Ministry said the three gendarmerie officers who died in the incident were 21, 37 and 45 years old. A fourth officer, who was injured, had no life-threatening injuries, the ministry added in a statement.
President Emmanuel Macron expressed his solidarity with the French police force, tweeting “They are our heroes.”
Interior Minister Darmanin paid tribute to the dead officers. “The nation bows to your bravery and commitment,” he wrote on Twitter.
UNDER THREAT
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.
The most recent killings of officers in the line of duty, excluding terrorism, occurred in June 2012, when two female officers were killed in Collobrieres, in southern France, while intervening in a dispute between neighbors.
But French security forces say they have come under increasing fire in recent years as they struggle to deliver on Macron’s promise to reduce crime and insecurity.
Among the most notorious incidents in recent months, two undercover officers were shot during a surveillance operation in a Paris suburb in October, while later that month a station on the outskirts of Paris was attacked by dozens of people armed with powerful weapons. fireworks and steel bars.
The government has vowed to increase funding and pass a new “comprehensive security” law to protect officers in the line of duty, a move denounced by critics as an attempt to protect officers from public scrutiny after several reported incidents. of police brutality.
