Seven gendarmes were injured, three of them seriously, following the explosion of a house in the town of La Chapelle. The man arrested by them was found dead by firefighters.
A violent explosion occurred in a house in La Chapelle (Allier) while an intervention by the police was underway. Seven gendarmes were injured and the individual arrested by them was found dead. Back to the information we have.
An intervention following death threats
The facts took place a little before 1 p.m. on Wednesday. Seven gendarmes intervened at the home of a man who, for several days, had been making calls and making death threats, in particular against an agent of the Prison Service for Integration and Probation (SPIP).
Three gendarmes from the surveillance and intervention platoon of the gendarmerie (PSIG) and four gendarmes from the Territorial Brigade of Mayet de Montagne came to his home, at a place called Les Palissards. At their sight, the man took refuge in the home. The three PSIG soldiers then follow him, question him and handcuff him.
7 soldiers injured, the individual found dead
Immediately afterwards, under circumstances that remain unknown at this stage, an explosion occurs, setting the house on fire. The brigade gendarmes manage to extract the PSIG soldiers, all three blasted and seriously burned.
On this occasion, four of them suffered superficial burns to their hands. The person arrested cannot, because of the flames and smoke, be released at the same time. Once there, the firefighters manage to find his lifeless body and extract it.
The three PSIG gendarmes were airlifted to the Clermont-Ferrand University Hospital in serious condition. One of the three has its vital prognosis engaged.
While the causes of the explosion have not yet been determined, there was a strong smell of gasoline at the site of the explosion.
Suspect known to police
The suspect, who is therefore deceased, was born in 1985. He was known to the police for violations of the Highway Code, domestic violence but also threats and insults to a person holding public authority.
