A young man has been shot dead after he reportedly killed five members of his family he had been holding hostage since Tuesday night.
Local media reported the man in his twenties killed his father, his stepmother and three children in Douvres, a town in eastern France.
Those deceased include his father who was the head of a building company in Ain, his mother-in-law, originally from Gironde, his 17 -year-old sister, his half- 15-year-old brother and his 5-year-old half-sister, Le Progres reported.
The unnamed individual had locked himself in the house since last night raising the alarm of local residents.
The elite French police group, the National Gendarmerie Intervention Group, from Dijon were then called to intervene and had been at the location since around 11:30 pm on Tuesday.
One negotiator from the unit had been dispatched to the scene to try to convince the murderer to surrender, but they failed to succeed.
“Faced with the possible dangerousness of the character”, the police decided to kill the man a source told Agence France Presse.
Access to this village north of Ambérieu was closed for most of Wednesday morning and the area surrounding the town is still difficult to access as police continue with their investigation.
The usually sleepy French village was stunned by the crime, with the pizzeria La Babilliere saying they are temporarily closed due to the events.
Another bar in the main square told Le Progres that their telephone has been ringing non-stop with requests for information.
The owner Tania said: "People call to find out what's going on but we don't know. The gendarmes (police) just told me not to open for my safety."
