France: Road rage farmer kills policeman with Kalashnikov

A French farmer shot dead a policeman today after opening fire with a Kalashnikov rifle inside a police station in western France following a road rage incident.

The farmer, Jean-Charles Denis, was injured when police returned fire at the station in Vannes in Brittany and was taken into custody, police said.

Earlier, Denis drove through a red light and bumped his 4X4 vehicle into a car driven by three men in their early 20s, but he did not stop, Vannes Deputy Prosecutor Patrick Mignot said.

The three men caught up to Denis to seek an explanation, at which point he pulled out an AK47 rifle and asked, ‘‘What’s the problem?’’

The three then fled to a nearby police station to seek refuge. Denis followed them inside and opened fire, killing officer Regis Ryckebusch before other police shot back, injuring him in the shoulder, Mignot said.

Regional officials said Denis was known to police for violent behaviour and was jailed for three years in 1977 for his involvement with a Breton separatist group, the Liberation Front of Brittany.

With rising crime a key issue in France’s forthcoming presidential elections, the top two contenders President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Lionel Jospin immediately sent their condolences to the officer’s family.