PARIS, June 13 (UPI) — A French policeman has been stabbed to death and his wife found dead after a hostage ordeal Monday night, French media is reporting.
The police officer was stabbed nine times in the abdomen outside his home, his wife and three-year-old son then taken hostage by an unidentified attacker about 8:30 p.m. The attacker was killed by police.
Armed police stormed the building near Versailles, hostage negotiators were brought in and the surrounding area was locked down, with street lights turned off and the gas supply cut.
When police entered the home, the woman’s body was found. The child was also found, but there are conflicting reports over whether he was injured.
The officer was identified as Jean-Baptiste Salvaing, 42, deputy chief of judicial police at Les Mureaux police station who was returning home, out of uniform, when he was stabbed Le Figaro newspaper reported.
Police said the attacker was the couple’s neighbor and the wife a member of the Ministry of the Interior.
Pierre-Henry Brandet, Interior Ministry spokesman, said: “Elite police quickly arrived at the scene and negotiations began, a plan of assault was also being developed.
“The negotiations could not succeed, it was decided to launch an assault.”
At about 11 p.m., shots were fired and there was an explosion right before police entered the house. The attacker was then shot dead.
