SAINT-JUST, (France): Three police officers were killed and a fourth wounded in central France on Wednesday when a man opened fire as they responded to a domestic violence call, the deadliest attack in years on French security forces outside of terrorism incidents.

The suspect, a 48-year-old man known to authorities for child custody disputes, was “discovered dead” several hours after fleeing the home in an isolated hamlet near Saint-Just, a village of some 160 people south of Clermont-Ferrand, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said in a tweet.

“This is one of the most tragic events in the history” of France’s Gendarmes force, which often ensures law enforcement in rural areas, Darmanin said after arriving at the scene.

He gave no further details on how the man died, though a ministry source told AFP the suspect “was found dead in his vehicle, apparently a suicide.”

Identified by officials as Frederik L., he opened fire at two officers who arrived at the house shortly after midnight after being alerted to a reported domestic assault.

One was killed immediately and the other shot in the thigh before the man set fire to the house, where a woman had climbed onto the roof. Police reinforcements and firefighters were rushed to the scene, and all roads leading to the house were blocked off, according to the prosecutor’s office in Clermont-Ferrand.