Three kids, aged 5 to 17, shot dead ‘by brother who then gunned down his parents’ in hostage bloodbath
A FAMILY of five, including three kids, have been shot dead in a "hostage situation" in France.
A 22-year-old man was reportedly shot dead in the village of Douvres in the foothills of the Alps after he allegedly killed five members of his family he had been holding hostage since Tuesday night.
The man was wearing a bulletproof vest and armed with a rifle and a sword, according to reports.
Christian Limousin, the mayor of Douvres, said the man went after the five members of his family before he was shot dead by the Special French Force - known as the GIGN.
The 22-year-old reportedly killed his dad, his stepmother, his 17-year-old sister, his 15-year-old step-sister and his five-year-old step-brother, the mayor told .
The gendarmes were alerted about a potential hostage situation on Tuesday around 11.30pm and tried to negotiate with the alleged captor until the arrival of the GIGN team sent from Dijon shortly before 7am this morning.
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More than 100 officers were sent to the scene, according to reports.
A long negotiation took place before the assault on the "madman" was ordered at midday.
Bourg-en-Bresse prosecutor Christophe Rode said: "For several hours during the night and the morning of July 20, the gendarmes tried to get in touch with the madman who refused to answer the telephone calls of the gendarmes as well as the direct contacts attempted by the negotiators."
“Faced with the possible dangerousness of the character”, the GIGN took the decision to shoot the man, a source told AFP.
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Limousin confirmed the alleged attacker was the son from his father's previous marriage.
The family had moved to Douvres in July last year, but the 22-year-old was not living in the house at the time of the incident, Limousin said.
The father was running a local construction company, according to .
Local café La Babillière said the grandmother called to check on her daughter - the alleged killer's step-mother - who she had not heard from in 24 hours, France3 reported.
Customers of the café described seeing a drone and hearing gunshots fired at around 9am this morning.
Managers of the cafe said they have temporarily closed the store "in light of the events".
Parts of the village are still closed off and the house is still surrounded by police, according to local media reports.
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The latest mass crime scene comes after a triple murder in the town of Angers at the weekend when a Sudanese refugee stabbed three young rugby players to death after a row in the street.
Elsewhere in France, a female cop shot dead a man who lunged at her with a sword following a domestic dispute in the town of Dreux west of Paris on Saturday evening, prosecutors said.