He had undergone military training, had at his side a whole arsenal: a Glock pistol, an assault rifle, a laser aiming system, and four knives.
Le Monde avec AFP
The man who killed three gendarmes on the night of Wednesday, December 23 in Saint-Just (Puy-de-Dôme), was “extremely determined to cause carnage “, said the public prosecutor of Clermont-Ferrand, Eric Maillaud. “It is a real war scene that we have all been faced with this morning. Hundreds and hundreds of shell casings, the house set on fire, one overarmed individual,” he said.
After setting his house on fire, leaving three gendarmes on the ground and injuring a fourth, the madman, 48, fled behind the wheel of his 4 × 4, which he lost control about a kilometer and a half later, and poured out on the left side on the hillside. Protected by a bulletproof vest, his body was found near his vehicle.
The father, who had received military training, had a whole arsenal at his side: a Glock pistol to in hand, an assault rifle equipped with a silencer, torch and laser sighting system and four knives on its belt.
His body should be autopsied “early next week” at the forensic institute of Saint-Etienne, Agence France-Presse (AFP) learned Thursday from the prosecution from Clermont-Ferrand. “Priority was given to the autopsies of the gendarmes in order to be able to return the bodies to their families as quickly as possible”, explains the same source.
Adept of survivalism courses
The hearings by the investigators of “about twenty gendarmes, intervened near or far”, continued Thursday. They should in particular make it possible to refine the chronology and the sequence of events, which remained difficult to establish yesterday evening. “We can imagine a lot of scenarios, but it is far too early to say firmly how it happened”, explains a source close to the investigation.
The author of the massacre had arrived in the region four years ago, and was taking pruner training. Practicing sport shooting, he called himself a very practicing Catholic, “even an extremist”, and was a follower of survivalism courses, convinced of the imminent end of the world.
Except terrorism, “he is one of the most tragic events “in the history of the gendarmerie, recalled the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, who came on site to support the comrades of the victims, their widows and the four children, now fatherless. The victims are Brigadier Arno Mavel (21), Lieutenant Cyrille Morel (45) and Warrant Officer Rémi Dupuis (37).
The soldiers, who belonged to Ambert’s company, were fatally wounded by firearms as they tried to rescue the companion of the madman, threatened by him, and who was was a refugee on the roof of a house, in the isolated hamlet of Cros.
“It was she herself who called for help to say that she was threatened” by her companion, said on BFM-TV the Minister for Citizenship, Marlène Schiappa, adding that there would have been a “history of violence” on the part of the author. The emergency services brought her and her child to safety.