Slain, hero who rushed to Bataclan

THE policeman gunned down by a terrorist on the Champs Elysees had already risked his life during the Paris terror attacks in 2015.

Xavier Jugele, 37, had rushed to the scene during the attack at the Bataclan theatre when armed jihadis massacred 89 people during a rock concert.

Mr Jugele had returned to the Bataclan last November for concert by Sting to commemorate a year since the atrocities.

At the time, he told American magazine People: ‘I’m pleased to be here. It’s symbolic. We are here tonight as witnesses, to defend our values. This concert is to celebrate life, to say no to terrorists.’

But while working on the Champs Elysees on Thursday night, he was shot in the head by Karim Cheurfi.

Mr Jugele, the son of a former serviceman from Romorantin-Lanthenay, a commune in central France, was a member of the Paris police department’s public order and traffic division. He was due to start a new job in coming weeks and was described as a fierce campaigner for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights.

Flag, a group which supports lesbian and gay police officers in France, posted a picture of him on social media with the words: ‘So that we never forget Xavier. Rip’.

Its president, Mikael Bucheron, said: ‘He was a simple man who loved his job, and he was really committed to the LGBT cause.

‘He joined the association a few years ago, and he protested with us when there was the homosexual propaganda ban at the Sochi Olympic Games.’

Another Flag member Stephane Lamart, said: ‘I will remember a sensitive, pleasant man, a man passionate about his job.’

An officer since 2010, Mr Jugele had once travelled to Greece to help police officers deal migrants who had crossed the Aegean Sea.

President Francois Hollande paid tribute, writing on Twitter: ‘My thoughts go out to the family of the police officer killed and to those close to the injured. A national homage will be paid to him.’