Fivefold murder shocks France Man ends patchwork family
07/21/2022, 17:28
Douvres is a quiet village in southeastern France. According to residents, “there was always a good atmosphere.” But now the idyll is over: a few days ago, a man murdered a family of five and then was shot dead by the police. The small village is in shock.
After five murders in a village in southeastern France, the police assume he was a mentally disturbed man. According to investigators, the 22-year-old killed his 51-year-old father and his 48-year-old companion, his 17-year-old sister, his girlfriend’s 15-year-old daughter, with a stabbing weapon and a rifle in Douvres, east. de Lyon, father and four-year-old son from the new relationship.
He then hid in the house for hours, where, according to investigators, he himself alerted the police. Finally, he was shot dead by security forces on Wednesday morning. According to the first findings of the Public Ministry, the author suffered from “mental disorders”.
Prosecutor Christophe Rode said the man had repeatedly refused to lay down his weapons. Instead, he finally attacked the gendarmes with rifle in hand, who then shot him and fatally wounded him.
“Everybody knows everybody, we are a family”
Many of Douvres’ thousands of residents are in shock after the fact. “We are a small, quiet village. Everyone knows everyone else, we are a family,” said chef Hervé, 30, who said he helped install electricity in the home of the mixed family who died. According to Mayor Christian Limousin, she has lived in the house since July 2020.
Tania, a 35-year-old woman who runs the village’s cafe, said the news of the horrific act had affected her, although she did not know the family. “There was always a good mood in the village.” Pascale, 55, is also shocked. She wonders what drives a “young man to do something like that,” she said. According to an acquaintance of the family, the alleged attacker worked for a fast-food chain in a nearby town.
It is one of the worst cases of this type in France in recent years. In October 2020, a father killed his wife, two children and two nephews in Noisy-le-Sec in the Ile-de-France region.