Hero French policeman fighting for life after jihadist shooting spree
© AFP / by Remy ZAKA with Pauline TALAGRAND and Katy LEE in Paris |
French elite anti-terror police gather outside the Super U supermarket
in Trebes where the gunman killed a customer and an employee
RÈBES (FRANCE) (AFP) - A heroic policeman who swapped himself for a hostage was fighting for his life Saturday after being shot by a gunman who killed three people in a shooting spree French President Emmanuel Macron branded "an Islamist terrorist attack".Arnaud Beltrame, 45, was among a group of officers who rushed to the scene in the town of Trebes in southwest France Friday after the attacker, who claimed allegiance to the Islamic State group, stormed a supermarket and fired at shoppers and staff.
The assailant, identified as 25-year-old Radouane Lakdim, killed three people and wounded five others, inFrance's first major jihadist attack since October
The shootings come as France remains on high alert following a string of deadly attacks that have killed more than 240 people since 2015. (cont'd)
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Lakdim started his rampage in Carcassonne at around 10:30 am (0930 GMT), hijacking a car and shooting the two people inside, Molins said. The passenger was killed, and the driver remains in a critical condition.
Lakdim then shot and wounded a police officer who was out jogging with colleagues before driving to nearby Trebes where he burst into the Super U supermarket.
"The attacker entered the store shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) and saying he was a soldier of the Islamic State, ready to die for Syria," Molins said.
Friday's violence took place in a part of France still scarred by a killing spree in 2012 in the city of Toulouse and nearby Montauban where another jihadist, Mohamed Merah, shot dead seven people including three Jewish schoolchildren.
That assault marked the first of several big Islamist attacks in France since 2015, including the massacre at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, the November 2015 attacks that killed 130 in Paris, and a summer 2016 truck attack during Bastille Day festivities in Nice.
The most recent assault came in October when a Tunisian man stabbed to death two women at Marseille's railway station, shouting "Allahu Akbar".
...and how many minor ones in between?
...and how many were thwarted?
Doesn't Macron know you can't say things like he did? It's Islamophobia, and he could be charged with a hate speech offence. That sure as hell would happen in Germany.
Well , under pressure, he may "clarify" his remarks....
I watched the evening news on ABC and I am pretty sure they didnt even mention this.
There is so much violence (and stupidity) in the world they can't cover it all any more.
And there's another reason as well-- its not politically correct
Many other attacks in France and elsewhere in Europe have been covered.
There is a lot going on right now.
Forgive me if someone mentioned it already, but Arnaud Beltrame died this morning.
That's heroism.