Three police officers have been killed by a gunman who had taken his partner hostage in central France.

The gendarmes had been responding to a report of domestic violence at a house in Saint Just, Puy-de-Dome, when the attacker began shooting at them. He then set fire to the building.

After a lengthy stand-off, the three police officers – one aged 21 – were killed and a fourth was injured.

Three police officers have been shot dead and a fourth wounded in a remote village in France.
The shootings happened in the remote French village of Saint-Just

The man escaped but interior minister Gerald Darmanin said on Twitter that he had later been found dead.

French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to the gendarmes, saying “they are our heroes”.

He said the whole nation mourned for their families.

President Macron confirmed his country's widely-expected measures, which will start this Friday and last until 1 December
President Macron described the gendarmes as ‘our heroes’

And British Home Secretary Priti Patel said in a tweet that her “thoughts and prayers” were with the friends, family members and colleagues of the officers.

A woman who had been inside the house is now safe, said Francois Chautard, mayor of Saint-Just.

 French Gendarme looks on next to a Gendarmerie car in Saint-Just, central France on December 23, 2020, after three gendarmes were killed and a fourth wounded by a gunman they confronted in response to a domestic violence call. - The suspect, a 48-year-old man known to authorities for child custody disputes, was "discovered dead" several hours after fleeing the home in an isolated hamlet near Saint-Just,
A French police officer guards the scene of the shooting

About 300 police officers and special forces had been called to the scene after the shooting in the early hours of Wednesday.

Puy-de-Dome is in the central Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region of France, about 115 miles west of Lyon.

French media reported the gunman was 48 years old.

Source: Sky News