PARIS (AFP) - Police in south-west France detained on Monday (May 31) a former soldier who fled into a forest after firing on security forces in an incident that sparked a massive manhunt, officials said.

The government's top official in the Dordogne region, Mr Frederic Perissat, told a press conference in Le Lardin-Saint-Lazare that the suspect was shot and wounded after exchanging fire with police, and had been taken into custody.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Twitter that the man had been "neutralised" and praised the hundreds of security forces deployed since Sunday.

The authorities had released earlier on Monday a picture of the suspect, Terry Dupin, describing the bearded 29-year-old as a "dangerous individual". He was hiding out in a forest outside the village of Le Lardin-Saint-Lazare, whose 1,800 residents had been ordered to stay indoors during the search.

Elite tactical units and around 300 gendarmes backed up by armoured vehicles, helicopters and sniffer dogs had surrounded a 4 sq km patch of dense and rocky woods.

The search began after Dupin showed up at his former partner's home at around midnight on Saturday, police sources said, despite a restraining order following four previous domestic violence convictions.

He allegedly struck the woman and then fired a Winchester hunting rifle at her new boyfriend, without hitting him.