School run terrorist
IS fanatic drops off sister – then kills 3 and dies in French siege after hero soldier swaps himself for female hostage
AN Islamic State gunman dropped his little sister at school before going on a killing spree in rural France yesterday.
Redouane Lakdim shot three dead and injured several others before seizing hostages in a supermarket.
A soldier who swapped himself for a female captive was among 16 wounded by the attacker, who was armed with a gun, knife and grenades.
The 26-year- old, who was later shot dead, lived with his parents and his four sisters in a council flat in Carcassonne, southern France. A neighbour said she saw him taking one of his younger sisters to school yesterday morning.
His murder spree began at around 11am when he hijacked a car in the town, shot the passenger in the head and wounded the driver. A quarter of an hour later, he fired six shots while shouting ‘vengeance for Syria’ at four police officers on a morning jog. One of the bullets caught an officer on the shoulder, but the injury is not life-threatening.
Lakdim then drove to the Super U supermarket in nearby Trebes, where he yelled, ‘Allahu Akbar, I’ll kill you all’, before gunning down a butcher and a shopper. About 50 people were inside at the time.
A police source said: ‘He was shouting slogans about Syria. He said he was a soldier of IS.’
Terrified customers fled the store or hid, and amid the chaos Lakdim took around 20 hostages. He threatened to kill them unless the authorities released Salah Abdeslam – the only surviving suspect from the 2015 terror attacks in Paris that killed 130. Abdeslam is on trial in Belgium.
Police brought Lakdim’s mother to the store in a vain attempt to persuade him to surrender.
Shortly after 12.30pm, as elite paramilitary police surrounded the Super U, most of the hostages were released, but Lakdim kept one woman as a human shield.
Arnaud Beltrame, a 45-year-old military officer, swapped himself for the woman. The lieutenantcolonel left his mobile phone connected, letting police listen in during the hours-long stand-off – and, crucially, decide when to go in.
Last night he was hailed a hero by French interior minister Gerard Collomb, who said the siege ended when shots were heard and police stormed the building, shooting Lakdim dead.
Lt Col Beltrame was found seriously injured. Last night French president Emmanuel Macron said he was ‘fighting for his life’, adding: ‘He saved lives.’ A policeman was also hurt in the showdown.
Mr Collomb claimed Lakdim was a small-time drug dealer, but added: ‘We did not think he had been radicalised.’
However, it emerged he was subject to an S-file, meaning intelligence services considered him a security threat. He had briefly been in prison in 2016. Le Parisien newspaper said Lakdim was also suspected of travelling to Syria.
Prosecutors last night confirmed that one person, who is believed to be Radouane Lakdim’s partner, had been arrested following the attack.
Last night Islamic State claimed responsibility for the atrocity, while Mr Macron branded the bloodshed an act of terrorism.
France has been on high alert since 2015 after a string of attacks.