Islamic State gunman is shot dead in France after killing three in attack
A GUN-WIELDING extremist unleashed bloodshed in a quiet corner of southern France yesterday, killing three people as he hijacked a car, opened fire on police and took hostages in a supermarket.
The 26-year-old attacker was identified as Redouane Lakdim.
He called himself a “soldier of Islamic State” when he entered the supermarket, and was killed as police stormed the store with the help of an officer who had switched places with a hostage and suffered life-threatening wounds. In total, 16 people were injured.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the rampage near Carcassonne and the town of Trebes.
It was the deadliest attack in France since Emmanuel Macron became president last year.
The officer who offered to be swapped for a female hostage was identified as Arnaud Beltrame.
He managed to surreptitiously leave his phone on so that police outside could hear what was going on inside the supermarket — and crucially, decide when to storm it.
“He saved lives,” Mr Macron declared.
He said investigators will now focus on establishing how the gunman obtained his weapon, and how he became radicalised.
Lakdim was known to police for petty crime and was under surveillance, but not suspected of extremist links.
The drama began when the attacker hijacked a car near the medieval city of Carcassonne yesterday morning, killing one person in the car and injuring the other, according to French interior minister Gerard Collomb.
Lakdim then fired six shots at police officers who were on their way back from jogging near Car- cassonne, said Yves Lefebvre, secretary general of the SGP Police-FO police union.
The police were wearing athletic clothes with police insignia.
One officer was shot in the shoulder but the injury was not serious, Mr Lefebvre said.
Lakdim then went to a Super U supermarket in the nearby small town of Trebes, shooting and killing two people in the market and taking an unknown number of people hostage.
Special police units converged on the scene while authorities blocked roads and urged residents to stay away.
Police were able to evacuate some shoppers at the supermarket.
Mr Collomb said two other officers were wounded during the assault.
“He acted alone, there was noone else but him,” he said.
During the standoff, Lakdim requested the release of Salah Abdeslam, the sole surviving assailant of the November 13, 2015, attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead.