The mayor of La Celle-Condé (Cher) committed suicide this Wednesday morning at his home.
The facts occurred under the eyes of a crew of the gendarmerie who came to search his farm as part of an investigation, reports
France Bleu Berry
.
Alain Manssens, 71, had been the subject of a complaint for sexual assault on a minor a few weeks earlier.
The gendarmes arrived at 9 am for the search.
At one point, the septuagenarian moved away from them and killed himself with a firearm, said the public prosecutor of Bourges (Cher).
A double investigation in progress
The mayor of this small village of 200 inhabitants was to be interviewed by the authorities in the afternoon.
An investigation has been opened into the circumstances of his death.
The Bourges prosecutor's office said that the investigation into the sexual assault on a minor would also continue.
Alain Manssens, former farmer and breeder, was elected mayor of La Celle-Condé in 2014 and successfully ran for a second term in 2020. He ran in the last departmental elections but his pair was eliminated in the first round.
Justice
Cher: Up to 20 years in prison for four men accused of the murder of Mathieu Hocquet
Miscellaneous
Bourges: 650 kg of cannabis pollen seized, record of the year for customs
Miscellaneous
Investigation
Suicide
Mayor
Sexual assault
Gendarme