According to France Info, the police operation was carried out in two stages. First, they managed to free two hostages, after which they detained the perpetrator, who had shot the third hostage, his ex-girlfriend, and tried to commit suicide afterward.
The media outlet also stressed that the man, armed with a shotgun, fired at the police without harming anyone.
Forcené retranché à #Lourdes: l’homme, âgé de 49 ans, a été maîtrisé par le RAID. Son ex compagne, qu’il retenait en otage, a été blessée par balle par le forcené lors de l’assaut. L’homme avait été condamné à 3 reprises pour violences conjugales pic.twitter.com/NL6VjwDVl4
— Thomas Rossi (@ThomasRossi31) 23 апреля 2019 г.
The first shots were fired at 11:00 a.m. local time (09:00 GMT) on Tuesday morning.
The Hautes-Pyrenees prefecture then confirmed this information and said a security perimeter had been set up in the town.