A 46-year-old French policeman shot dead his seriously ill 73-year-old mother and then his father before taking his own life in a small village near Metz, the Metz public prosecutor said on Saturday.
The events occurred on Friday in Retonfey, the magistrate Yves Badorc confirmed a report to local radio. The nurse caring for the ailing septuagenarian discovered the three bodies on Friday when he was making his rounds at around 17:30.
Written notes found in the house explain that the woman's husband, a 74-year-old retired gendarme, and his son, a police officer at Metz police station, had decided by mutual agreement to kill the septuagenarian and then take their own lives. "The father and son had organised everything, even the order of death. They decided by mutual agreement to kill her," explained Mr Badorc, who visited the scene on Friday. "Presumably the son killed his father before committing suicide."
Local media report that the policeman was an only child and lived with his parents. An investigation into aggravated murder has been opened.
