France hails a hero officer slain in terrorist attack

PARIS — France on Saturday mourned a police officer who was shot and killed after he swapped places with a woman being held hostage in a supermarket by a gunman claiming allegiance to the Islamic State.

Interior Minister Gerard Collomb announced the death of Lt. Col. Arnaud Beltrame, 44, overnight, and President Emmanuel Macron praised Beltrame, who was married and had no children, as a fallen hero.

French authorities said the officer had gone unarmed into the supermarket and was shot in the exchange of gunfire after police stormed the market and killed the gunman, Radouane Lakdim. It was unclear Beltrame Saturday if Lakdim had been holding more than one person hostage.

The Paris prosecutor’s office said Saturday that three homemade bombs, a handgun and a hunting knife were found inside the store. Authorities also searched Lakdim’s home Saturday and found notes referring to the Islamic State.

The death of Beltrame brought the death toll from Friday’s violent outburst in southwestern France to five, including the gunman; 15 others were wounded.

More details of how the attack unfolded emerged Saturday. Lakdim, a 25-year-old French citizen who was born in Morocco and lived in Carcassonne, hijacked a car Friday morning. He shot and wounded the driver and killed a passenger. The gunman then shot at a group of police officers who were returning from a jog, wounding one.

After he left the hijacked car in the market’s parking lot, Lakdim stormed into the store around 11:15 a.m., according to the national gendarmerie. About 50 people were shopping for groceries. The gunman killed two more people on the spot, authorities said.

The only police officer to enter the supermarket at first was Beltrame, when he swapped places with a hostage. He left his phone on a table with the line open, according to Collomb, so colleagues outside could listen in.

The officer spent about two hours with Lakdim inside the Super U supermarket, officials said.

After officers heard more gunshots through the phone, they rushed into the market and killed Lakdim. Beltrame was "seriously wounded" in the exchange of gunfire, Collomb said.

On Saturday, the president’s office asked the French people to honor the memory of the officer, who had fallen "as a hero."