The officers from the Gendarmerie National Police Force were killed by a lone gunman in Puy-de-Dôme, west of Lyon, shortly after midnight on Wednesday. BFM reported that the police officers were fatally shot by a 48-year-old man as they tried to rescue a woman who had taken refuge on the roof of a house.
According to the broadcaster, the man allegedly set fire to the house after the shooting. French press agency AFP cited officials saying the woman had been rescued, and that at least seven elite tactical police officers remained on site.
Speaking to BFM, the mayor of Saint-Just Francois Chautard, which is in the Puy-de-Dôme department, said the house had been destroyed by the fire.
“They don’t know what’s in the rubble or if he managed to escape,” the mayor said, adding that the incident was “apparently a domestic scene that’s gone wrong.”
