Paris: Three cops have been shot dead and another has been wounded by a gunman in central France today after they responded to a domestic violence incident in Puy-de-Dôme, west of Lyon, in the early hours of Wednesday.
The gunman killed one officer and wounded another. He then set fire to the house and killed two more officers who arrived. The woman was rescued.
The officers had been called to the scene in an isolated hamlet near Saint-Just, a small town in the Puy-de-Dôme region of France, about 50 miles southeast of Clermont-Ferrand, to help a woman who was being beaten by her partner, according to the French Interior Ministry.
Earlier Wednesday, the minister released a statement expressing “deep sadness” in a statement following the deaths of Lieutenant Cyril Morel,Warrant Officer Rémi Dupuis,and Brigadier Arno Mavel, of the Puy-de-Dôme Departmental Gendarmerie, who were killed during an intervention for domestic violence.
Police are still trying to locate the suspect, 48, who is said to be involved in a child custody battle with his wife, managed to flee.
(With Agency inputs)
Ms Kalinga