Two gendarmes were slightly injured by a man who fired a pellet rifle this Monday, December 25. The GIGN of Reims is on site. The central GIGN of Paris was called in for reinforcement.
A man holed up in Blessy (Pas-de-Calais). The man fired a pellet rifle multiple times at police. Two of them were slightly injured, BFMTV learned from a source close to the investigation, confirming information from The voice of the North.
The first injured gendarme was hit by a lead bullet, the second by ricochets. The man retreated to his home around 2 a.m. on the night of December 24 to 25.
Around fifty men mobilized
Around 1:50 p.m., the GIGN branch in Reims arrived on site. The central GIGN, coming from Paris, was called in for reinforcement. At 2 p.m., the GIGN was being deployed in the area. Around fifty men are mobilized for the operation.
The individual has been holed up at home since 2 a.m. He is known in the community as a frequent alcoholic, with a tendency to threaten his parents. It was his parents who alerted the police. According to the mayor of Blessy, they say they are very saddened by the situation.
The operation is still after 4 p.m., BFMTV learned from a source close to the matter. Negotiations, which have so far failed, continue, with the gendarmes trying to transmit messages by loudspeaker to the entrenched man.
A former police officer
The man in question would be a former law enforcement officer who “unfortunately was dismissed from the police for alcoholism and for acts of embezzlement”, indicates the mayor of the town, Jean-Marc Furgerot, at the microphone of BFMTV .
The chosen one mentions a person living with his parents, and who “when she is drunk, is a little naughty”.
Holed up during the night from Sunday to Monday, the man began by ransacking the house a little inside, then he retreated into his room, before the police were called, says the mayor.
According to the mayor of Blessy, the gendarmes had already been called to the home of the man taken into custody a few days ago, after the latter’s mother reported violence.