The GIGN (illustration).

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NICOLAS MESSYASZ

  • The man, armed, "obviously unbalanced", had taken refuge in his home, in Saint-François-de-Sales, near Chambéry, and threatened his mother.

  • He was killed by the GIGN men on Monday evening after killing the gendarmerie dog and shooting at the police.

The ongoing investigation should confirm that the police used their weapons in self-defense.

A 44-year-old man, known for psychiatric disorders, was killed Monday evening in Savoie by GIGN gendarmes targeted by his shots after a day of tension, the Chambéry prosecutor announced on Tuesday.

The man, "obviously unbalanced, in crisis", had taken refuge in his home, in Saint-François-de-Sales, near Chambéry, and threatened his mother, declared the prosecutor Pierre-Yves Michau, confirming information from France Bleu Pays de Savoie.

His mother presents, in an independent dwelling

Monday around 10 a.m. at a place called La Magne, a commune in the Bauges massif, the gendarmes were called by neighbors worried to see the man, born in 1976 in Geneva and known for psychiatric disorders, on his balcony with a weapon fist, a beretta.

"All day", the forty-something goes from his cellar to the balcony, "threatens to suppress himself", "asks the gendarmes to shoot him" and "makes incoherent remarks", added the magistrate.

Reinforcements are called, in particular negotiators, then the intervention group of the national gendarmerie (GIGN).

"As he was still agitated at the end of the afternoon, it was decided to intervene to bring his mother to safety", present on the spot in an independent house, specified the prosecutor.

According to his account, the "madman" then walked towards the gendarmes with his weapon in hand, ignoring the usual warnings from the military.

The latter sent their dog at the man, who retaliated by killing the canine.

Heard in custody

"It was at this time that he began to shoot the gendarmes" several times, before being shot by the gendarmes, continued Pierre-Yves Michaud.

The investigation was entrusted to the General Inspectorate of the National Gendarmerie (IGGN) "to ensure that the gendarmes did indeed use their weapons under legal conditions", and here "in self-defense", a “classic” procedure, according to the same source.

The three gendarmes responsible for the shootings are heard in police custody.

The prosecution also seized the research section to open an investigation for attempted homicide on the gendarmes.

No member of the security forces was injured during the intervention, and no other weapon was found in the forties.

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  • Investigation

  • GIGN

  • Forced

  • Gendarmerie

  • Miscellaneous