A heavily armed man has been wanted since Sunday morning in the town of Lardin-Saint-Lazare, in the Dordogne.

He shot gendarmes after a family dispute.

The 29-year-old suspect is a former soldier who was released from prison after a conviction for domestic violence. 

Sunday evening, the 29-year-old man who shot at gendarmes in the Dordogne had still not been found.

A former soldier, heavily armed, he was convicted four times for domestic violence and wore an electronic bracelet.

In the afternoon, it was located in a perimeter of 4 km².

"The work of sweeping the entire perimeter will be long and meticulous ... It can still take many hours," said the prefect of Dordogne Frédéric Périssat Sunday evening.

Since Sunday 7 am, the inhabitants of the town must stay at home.

Still according to the prefect, this state of siege should continue on Monday morning.

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- Dordogne: manhunt to find a heavily armed former soldier

The drama began on the night of Saturday to Sunday.

Around midnight, the man, ex-partner of a young woman, came to his home where he violated the latter's new friend.

"When the gendarmerie showed up, the individual opened fire on the vehicles and then he escaped into a wooded area near the village," said the prefect.

Since then, the profile of this man has become clearer.

A former soldier

According to sources close to the investigation, the suspect is a former soldier who was in the army from 2011 to 2016. Of Périgord origin, he belonged to the Brive infantry regiment.

He is heavily armed 

The man, aged 29, "is heavily armed, is athletic and moves quickly," said Francine Bourra, the mayor of Lardin-Saint-Lazare.

"We located it within a 4 to 5 km perimeter but it is a wooded area, difficult to access," she added.

At Lardin St Lazare in #Dordogne, the gendarmerie operation continues.


State services are mobilized to steer the management of the event.

pic.twitter.com/bO46AMj2ov

- Prefect of the Dordogne (@ Prefet24) May 30, 2021

"He has a big game hunting weapon, a powerful weapon which is indeed a dangerous weapon," General André Pétillot, commander of the New Aquitaine gendarmerie region, told the press.

According to a source close to the file, it is a 30-30 caliber Winchester which is used in particular for boar hunting.

He would also be armed with a rifle and a knife.

The suspect "was prohibited from possessing weapons" and "the weapon which he used that night and which he currently uses, presumably, is a weapon which was obtained illegally", the public prosecutor told reporters on Sunday. Périgueux Solène Belaouar.

He was coming out of jail

The suspect, who wore an electronic bracelet, was sentenced four times for violence on a spouse "to the detriment of his ex-girlfriend", also indicated the prosecutor, for acts committed between 2015 and 2021.