Manhunt launched after the killer escaped police capture and is on the run

Armed police arrived within minutes after supervisor sent out alert

A former French paratrooper has been arrested and charged for murder after a female care worker was killed and 70 monks held hostage at a retirement village in France.

The victim, known only as 54-year-old Catherine, was killed when a masked gunman stormed the nursing home in Monferrier-sur-Lez.

The alleged murderer, a 47-year-old father-of-two, was arrested close to his home following a tip-off after the incident near Montpellier sparked a huge manhunt for the killer.

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The manhunt continued this morning as armed police stood guard on the road leading to the retirement home

A gendarme stands outside the care home. Investigators so far had no evidence to suggest the attack was terror-related at a time when France remains under a state of emergency

The bloodbath unfolded at the Green Oaks care home in the village of Montferrier-sur-Lez, north of Montpellier, soon after 9.30pm last night.

Shots were heard as the unidentified intruder, who used to work at the care home, attacked members of staff and those belonging to an elderly religious community belonging to the Society of African Missions.

Police put up roadblocks around the area to try and detain the killer, who went on the run.

This morning, a bar of military medals and a fake machine gun were found in an abandoned car close to the retirement home.

The fake machine gun is of the kind used the practice of ‘Airsoft’ - a game in which replica military weapons are used.

'He'd left the army, and was pottering round doing odd jobs like mending bicycles while drawing unemployment benefit,' said a source close to the case.

Now the husband of the dead woman warned that the care home was completely unguarded at the time of her murder

This morning, a bar of military medals and a fake machine gun were found in an abandoned car close to the retirement home, pictured

A source close to the case said: ‘The car was parked up around 150 meters from the home. It is clearly of huge significance to the investigation.’

It is also thought that police had been talking to the attacker's partner and son in a bid to get them to convince him to give himself up.

The prosecutor in the case has said there appears to be no link to 'Islamist terror'.

Armed gendarmes stand guard on the road outside the care home in the South of France, where a care worker was murdered and 70 monks were taken hostage

Shots were heard as the unidentified intruder attacked member of staff and members of an elderly religious community belonging to the Society of African Missions

A helicopter hovers above Montferrier-sur-Lez as the search for an armed man who murdered a a care worker at a missionary continues

A helicopter has been seen flying over a security area near the retirement home for Catholic missionaries

Earlier today Christophe Barret said the suspect, who lived in the town, had a link with the retirement home without revealing any more details about his profile.

He said the suspect, thought to be around 47, was armed and extremely dangerous and insisted that everything was being done to try and find him.

Mr Barret explained: 'We rapidly found his vehicle next to the establishment,’ adding an air rifle used for firing soft pellets was found inside, together with other evidence.

One warden is said to have ‘discreetly raised the alarm,’ before being bound and gagged by the man, who was armed with a sawn off shotgun and a knife, but was unharmed. All of the monks were too unharmed and later released.

The murdered victim, is said to be a 54-year-old female care worker, who was tied up, and then stabbed three times.

Early fears that a man was also killed alongside her have not been confirmed.

Masked gunman stormed retirement home in Montepellier, France, and is now on the run

Police remain at the scene and it has not yet been confirmed if there was a second victim

The murdered victim, is said to be a female care worker, who was tied up, and then stabbed three times

And now the husband of the dead woman warned that the care home was completely unguarded.

The man, only identified as Georges, told RTL radio station that his wife worked night shifts as a care worker, from 8pm to 6.30am.

He explained: 'The home was unprotected. Anyone at all could go inside. There was no protection, no alarm and no security guard.'

He added that his wife was a woman of 'extraordinary kindness' who 'never had any kind of problem with anyone.'

Local prosecutor Christophe Barret holds a news conference close to a retirement home for monks in Montpellier

Nothing has yet indicated if the incident is a terror attack and delegates were paying tribute to the victim

Residents said they heard shots and saw the man entered the building at around 9.45pm

He said: 'How can you hurt someone like that? She is dead, and me, I'm left destroyed.'

Gendarmes arrived within minutes of the alarm being raised, and they were soon followed by a unit of the GIGN tactical support group.

They soon found the corpse of an elderly woman who had been tied up and then stabbed repeatedly with a knife.

‘A supervisor inside the building raised the alarm very discreetly,’ said a local police source, who confirmed that the siege ended soon after midnight.

The nursing home for monks and priests (pictured) was established since 1994 run by an association Les Chenes Verts

Monks, who have served as missionaries in Africa, reside in the home in Montferrier-sur-Lez, north of the city (pictured)

Some fifty monks were ‘evacuated’ from the building after gendarmes searched all floors, and then gave the all clear.

The gunman, believed to be wearing a mask and dark clothing including a hoodie, was nowhere to be seen, however, and a manhunt started.

'An individual, who was masked and armed with a knife and a sawn-off shotgun came into the retirement home where 70 monks live,' one source said, adding that the man's motivations were unknown.

Montferrier-sur-Lez is surrounded by thick forests, and today police helicopters could be seen flying above them.

Emergency services remain at the scene whilst police search for the man wearing dark clothing, a hoodie, and a balaclava

Local news sources say the woman was butchered by her killer who stabbed her in the throat and body

Search parties including sniffer dogs were also searching the surrounding countryside.

The nursing home for monks and priests was established since 1994 run by an association Les Chenes Verts.

Speaking at a press conference, spokesman of the Archdiocese of Montpellier (Hérault) Wayne Bodkin said: 'It's a shock, it is unclear why such a tragedy, we have no idea of ​​the intrusion pattern in this religious retreat house that welcomes former missionary in Africa. It is in the countryside, very quiet.

'Most of the residents are over 70 years old.'

Montpellier prosecutor Christophe Barret told AFP: 'For the time being, there is only one victim.

'For the moment there is no particular evidence about the motive for this crime.'

The man's motivations are unknown and it is claimed he was not known to police

Police searched all the rooms and it is believed now all those inside are accounted for

The quiet area is well known for being the home of the religious retirement home who have enjoyed mingling in the community

The man was not known to authorities.

Residents of the home 'are very elderly with an average age of 75 although some are more than 90,' said Alain Berthet, a local councillor in Montferrier-sur-Luz.

Many of the residents require assistance to walk, he said.

The secretary general of the French Bishops' Conference, Olivier Ribadeau Dumas, said in a Twitter message: 'Our prayers tonight go to the woman who lost her life in this attack on a retirement home.'

People in the surrounding areas have been told to stay inside, lock their doors and turn off their lights.

Montferrier is 20 miles from the town of Lunel, where police suspect a jihadi network may be based.

Police helped many of the residents who have mobility difficulties and are in their 70s and older

The secretary general of the French Bishops' Conference, Olivier Ribadeau Dumas, said in a Twitter message: 'Our prayers tonight go to the woman who lost her life in this attack on a retirement home'

France is currently under a state of emergency following a series of terror attacks.

One of the most recent was in July when an 84-year-old Catholic priest was murdered during morning mass at the parish church in Saint Etienne-du-Rouvray, a suburb of Rouen.

The two attackers, who said they were from Islamic State, slit Father Jacques Hamel's throat before themselves being shot dead by police.

Many churches, mosques and synagogues around France are now guarded 24 hours a day by police and army patrols, but the authorities have acknowledged that full security for every building in the country is an impossibility.

Concern about further attacks in France rose earlier this week with news of a series of arrests in the cities of Strasbourg and Marseille which the government said had averted more bloodshed.