Murder in the Puy-de-Dôme: the disturbing profile of the madman
A woman lays flowers in front of the gendarmerie in Ambert, France, on December 23, 2020, after a maniac killed three gendarmes and injured another the day before.
AFP - OLIVIER CHASSIGNOLE
Text by: Pierre Olivier Follow
3 min
Alcoholic, violent, passionate about firearms, survivalist: the profile of the madman who shot the soldiers is described as "very worrying" by the public prosecutor.
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We now know more about the profile of
the man who killed three gendarmes on the night of Tuesday 22 to Wednesday 23 December
, and injured a fourth, in the isolated hamlet of Saint-Just, in Puy-de-Dôme.
Called by his wife, who had taken refuge on the roof of her house, the soldiers had gone there for domestic violence before being targeted.
The intervention of the police then turned into a "
real scene of war
", according to the prosecutor.
Passion for weapons
All around the house, half charred by the fire started by the maniac during the tragic evening, "
hundreds of casings
" were found, revealed Eric Maillant, the public prosecutor of Clermont-Ferrand.
Aged 48, from the West Indies, Frédérik L. was "
fascinated by weapons
" and "
perfectly experienced in their handling
".
To satisfy his passion, he regularly attended a sports shooting club in Salon-de-Provence, located 250 kilometers from his home.
Younger, the man had undergone military training and had become a reserve officer for the army.
War arsenal
Broken at the practice of shooting, Frédérik L - dressed in a bulletproof vest at the time of the facts - seemed to have a perfect command of stress management and the handling of firearms.
At the crime scene, two Glock-type automatic pistols were found as well as an AR15 assault rifle.
Proof of the meticulous preparation of his passage to the act, he had taken care to equip his rifle with a silencer, a torch and a laser sight.
Wednesday, December 23 at 9 a.m., the body of the madman found next to his 4x4 not far from his house was lying next to a weapon.
The suicide thesis is privileged at this stage of the investigation.
Survivalist and violent
The fascination with guns isn't the only disturbing aspect of the killer's personality that is emerging.
The individual is also described by the prosecutor as a "
survivalist
" and convinced that "
the end of the world was near
".
He was therefore preparing to have to survive in a hostile nature and to defend himself alone.
A "
very practicing, almost extremist
"
Catholic
, the perpetrator is also described by his neighbors as an alcoholic and in the throes of fits of anger which sometimes makes him violent.
Frédérik L. was known to the courts for non-payment of maintenance payments in the context of a previous marriage and for repeated death threats on a spouse.
► To read also: France: three gendarmes killed, a fourth injured by a madman
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France: three gendarmes killed, a fourth injured by a madman