French police ‘hero’ dies of wounds

A French police officer who swapped himself for a hostage in a supermarket siege on Friday has died, officers explain.

Lt-Col Arnaud Beltrame, forty four, « fell as a hero » and showed « noteworthy braveness », French President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged.

The gendarme helped lift an cease to a gunman’s taking pictures spree that killed three in southern France.

The original Islamist gunman, 25-year-feeble Redouane Lakdim, changed into shot unnecessary as police introduced the siege to an cease.

Col Beltrame’s loss of life changed into announced on Twitter by French Interior Minister Gérard Collomb.

In a radio interview on Saturday, Col Beltrame’s brother, Cedric, acknowledged Arnaud’s actions were « previous the resolution of responsibility ».

« He gave his existence for strangers. He might want to rating known that he didn’t in actuality rating a probability. If that doesn’t effect him a hero, I rating no idea what would, » he acknowledged.

Flags were flown at 1/2-mast at gendarmerie bases all the strategy thru France on Saturday.

Earlier, Mr Macron had published that Col Beltrame suffered fundamental accidents and changed into combating for his existence in health heart.

Sixteen of us were injured, two seriously, in what Mr Macron known as an act of « Islamist terrorism ».

Lakdim changed into acknowledged to rating demanded the liberate of Salah Abdeslam, an indispensable surviving suspect within the Thirteen November 2015 attacks in Paris, which killed one hundred thirty of us.

Prosecutors are reportedly questioning two of us in connection with the attacks, one of whom is believed to be the gunman’s companion while the opposite is believed to be a chum.

How will Col Beltrame be remembered?

Col Beltrame changed into a extremely-regarded member of the Gendarmerie Nationale and changed into described by France’s president on Saturday as any person that « fought till the cease and never gave up ».

He graduated in 1999 from France’s leading military academy in Saint Cyr and in 2003 became one of factual a handful of candidates chosen to affix the gendarmerie’s elite security response community GSIGN.

He changed into deployed to Iraq in 2005 and changed into later awarded the Unpleasant for Protection force Valour for his peacekeeping work. On his return to France, Col Beltrame joined the nation’s Republican Guard and changed into tasked with preserving the presidential palace.

In 2017, he changed into named deputy chief of the Gendarmerie Nationale within the French plan of Aude, dwelling to the medieval town of Carcassonne, the attach Lakdim started his lethal taking pictures spree on Friday.

As recently as December, Col Beltrame took phase in a simulated fear attack on a local supermarket within the plan.

Col Beltrame becomes the seventh member of France’s security forces to be killed in such attacks since 2012.

What led up to Friday’s siege?

The violence started on Friday morning in Carcassonne, the attach Lakdim hijacked a automobile. He killed a passenger – whose physique changed into later chanced on hidden in a bush – and injured the driver.

He then shot at a community of policemen who were out jogging, wounding one of them.

Lakdim is then believed to rating pushed a handy guide a rough distance to the small town of Trèbes, the attach he stormed into the Orderly-U supermarket, shouting, « I am a soldier of Daesh [Islamic State]! »

He killed two of us – a buyer and a retailer employee – before seizing others as hostages.

At what level changed into the officer wounded?

Mr Collomb instructed newshounds on Friday that law enforcement officers had managed to salvage some of us out of the supermarket nonetheless the gunman had held one lady attend as a human shield.

It changed into at this level, he acknowledged, that Col Beltrame had volunteered to swap himself for her.

As he did so, he left his mobile cell telephone on a desk with an starting up line in advise that police exterior also can show screen the self-discipline.

When police heard gunshots, a tactical crew stormed the supermarket. The gunman changed into killed and Col Beltrame changed into mortally wounded.

After the announcement of his loss of life early on Saturday, France’s Gendarmerie Nationale – a police force phase of the military – honoured its fallen « comrade », announcing Col Beltrame « gave his existence for the liberty of the hostages ».

What attach we know about Redouane Lakdim?

Lakdim, changed into born in April 1992 in Morocco and had French nationality. He changed into known to French intelligence services.

Prosecutor Francois Molins acknowledged Lakdim had been on an extremist search-checklist because of « his radicalisation and his links with the Salafist movement », a hardline offshoot of Sunni Islam. However, subsequent investigations by intelligence services had no longer became up any indicators he would act, he acknowledged.

In 2011, Lakdim changed into chanced on guilty of carrying a prohibited weapon and in 2015 he changed into convicted for drug utilize and refusing a court present, Mr Molins acknowledged.

Earlier, Mr Collomb acknowledged that despite the incontrovertible reality that Lakdim had been known to authorities as a petty criminal, they « didn’t judge he had been radicalised ».

Lakdim lived in an condo in Carcassonne along with his of us and loads of different sisters. A neighbour saw him taking one of his sisters to college on Friday morning.

The household’s condo changed into raided by police on Friday afternoon.