Three gendarmes were seriously injured and a man they had come to arrest died in the explosion of a house on Wednesday in La Chapelle in the Allier, we learned from the Cusset prosecutor’s office. “Three gendarmes were seriously injured following an explosion in a house in which they had come to arrest an individual, himself deceased,” Cusset public prosecutor Eric Neveu told AFP. The vital prognosis of one of the three soldiers is engaged, he said.
Two gendarmes evacuated by helicopters
“The gendarmes enter the house shortly before 1 p.m. Wednesday to make the arrest and for an undetermined reason, an explosion occurs”, according to him. Two gendarmes were evacuated by helicopter to the Lyon hospital center specializing in severe burns. The third gendarme, more slightly affected, was transported to the Clermont-Ferrand hospital center, the Allier prefecture said in a press release.
Three other gendarmes who intervened to extract their comrades from the house were more slightly injured, according to her. The 38-year-old man was “very unfavorably known to the police”, continued the prosecutor. He was to be arrested for threats and insults to prison staff, because he was on probation.
The circumstances of the explosion still unknown
“Was he waiting for the gendarmes? Did he plan to commit suicide by killing the gendarmes? We do not know for the moment the exact circumstances of this explosion but there were a priori smells of gasoline (during the explosion). The roof of the house is completely destroyed,” said Éric Neveu.
“This individual had made threats the day before against a person holding public authority under the Ministry of Justice. When they arrived on the spot, the gendarmes arrested the accused and then noticed a very strong gasoline. A violent explosion follows, setting the house ablaze,” said the Allier prefecture. An investigation for “attempted homicide on a person holding public authority” was entrusted to the Clermont-Ferrand gendarmerie research section.
The Allier Departmental Fire and Rescue Service (SDIS 03) deployed 57 men and 27 vehicles. The Gendarmerie dispatched 13 additional soldiers and technical and scientific police resources were being sent in the afternoon. This drama is a reminder of the death of three gendarmes in neighboring Puy-de-Dôme in similar circumstances a little over two years ago. On the night of December 22 to 23, 2020, Frédérik L., 48, shot dead three gendarmes and seriously injured a fourth, while they intervened to rescue the extremist’s companion.