A 22-year-old man repeatedly stabbed his brother, aged five, as shocking details emerge of how he butchered five members of his family.
Mathieu Darbon has been identified as the killer who went on the sickening attack in the village of Douvres in France before he was shot dead by police.
He used a long-barrelled gun along with a Japanese sword known as a Katana as he murdered his dad, step-mum and three siblings.
French detectives have said that Darbon used brutal force to kill his family, especially his five-year-old brother, who received multiple stab wounds.
As well as all the dead receiving stab wounds, some also had wounds consistent with gunshots, said a police report.
Bourg-en-Bresse prosecutor Christophe Rode reportedly said: “It was relentless.”
The prosecutor's office says it is assuming he was “suffering from a psychiatric disorder” and Le Parisien cited police sources as saying he had been receiving treatment.
The dead were the killer’s dad Lilian Darbon, 51, step-mum Nathalie Jullion, 45, two sisters aged 15 and 17, as well as the five-year old boy.
The killer had worked in McDonald's according to local media with his family having moved to Douvres in July last year. His father ran a local construction company and his step mum was a project manager.
"People are crazy (...) what’s going on in their heads. I am the mother of a little boy and I ask myself how could a child do this to his family,” said one local woman.
Another resident said: "I’m shocked that it is happening here, it is a quiet small village where everyone knows each other like a family."
Police tried to negotiate with the 22-year-old after being called around 11.30pm last Tuesday. He had reportedly called them to say he had killed his family and also sent a video of his victims to his biological mother who alerted the police.
After a long period of negotiation the man moved towards the police who opened fire on him.
"Despite several attempts to get the individual to lay down his arms and despite an electric pulse pistol, the crazed man pointed his weapons and advanced towards the gendarmes, who then used their weapons four times, causing serious injuries," reportedly said the police.
Bourg-en-Bresse prosecutor Rode stated: "For several hours during the night and the morning of July 20, the gendarmes tried to get in touch with the crazed man who refused to answer the telephone calls of the gendarmes as well as the direct contacts attempted by the negotiators."
