A gunman who had beaten and taken his partner hostage in southern France killed three policemen who came to her aid and fled, prompting a wide manhunt, authorities said. He was later found dead.

France’s interior minister, Gerard Darmanin, headed Wednesday to the scene, near the town of Saint-Just southwest of Lyon.

A woman called for police help after threats from her partner, a spokesman for the gendarme service told The Associated Press. After a lengthy standoff, three police officers were killed and another injured, and the gunman fled.

Some 300 police were sent to the area to search for him, and he was found dead in circumstances that remain unclear, the spokesman said. The woman was taken into police care.

(AP)