End of the run.
After more than three days of stalking, Valentin Marcone surrendered this Friday to the authorities, while he is accused of having killed his boss and a colleague on Tuesday morning.
It was the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin who announced it on his Twitter account.
The man wanted since Tuesday in the Gard surrendered.
Thank you to all the agents of the State for their exceptional mobilization, day and night, during these last 3 days.
In particular the 350 gendarmes, within the framework of the judicial investigation, the Prefect and the sub-prefect of Vigan
- Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) May 14, 2021
Hundreds of gendarmes were after him, while he was considered "dangerous".
Aged 29 and licensed in a shooting club, the alleged murderer, who fled armed, having a "very particular personality, very litigious", said the prosecutor of Alès François Schneider on Tuesday, referring to "a rather disturbing paranoid-type behavior ”for some time.
An impressive device to flush him out
Valentin Marcone was very familiar with this wooded and steep sector of the Cévennes, which explains the difficulties the authorities had in flushing it out.
All this despite a substantial device: nearly 300 mobilized gendarmes, dogs, several helicopters and drones to fly over this large search area.
Based on the direct testimony of a third employee of this sawmill in the small village of Plantiers (Gard) who witnessed the scene, the Alès prosecutor had given a chilling account of the facts: around 8 am Tuesday, "the employee did not greet his boss who pointed it out to him, but kindly.
At that time, the respondent drew a handgun and immediately opened fire, killing him with several bullets in the head ”.
And the magistrate continued: "One of the employees tried to intervene, flabbergasted by the situation", and he also shot him in the head, killing him instantly.
The witness raised the alert soon after.
The respondent "went home, recovered a weapon and went back to the forest".
