Three French police officers were shot dead and a fourth was injured early Wednesday while trying to help a woman who fled on the roof of a house during a domestic violence incident, authorities said.
The shooter was identified as a 48-year-old man.
He allegedly shot two of the police officers shortly after midnight as they approached his home in a rural village near Saint-Just in central France, Agence France-Presse reported.
One of the officers died of his injuries, while the other was taken to hospital with a wound to his thigh.
The madman set fire to his house when reserve officers arrived – and shot two more policemen, killing them, he told the Clermont-Ferrand prosecutor’s office for AFP.
The killed officers were 21, 37 and 45 years old, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said in a statement.
Authorities managed to bring the woman to safety.
Meanwhile, the alleged shooter was still on the run around 7:00 local time.
He is known to law enforcement in the area for acts related to child custody, sources told AFP.
François Chautard, the mayor of Saint-Just, said in an interview on French television that a family dispute appears to have caused the incident.
Police evacuated nearby residents and secured the area, Chautard told BFMTV, adding that the house was “completely destroyed by fire.”