Arnaud Beltrame, a French policeman who was shot and stabbed after swapping himself for a hostage in a rampage and siege that President Emmanuel Macron branded as “an Islamist terrorist attack” died of his wounds on 24th March.
Lieutenant-Colonel Arnaud Beltrame, 45, was among a group of officers who rushed to the scene in the town of Trebes in southwest France after the attacker, who claimed allegiance to the Islamic State group, stormed a supermarket and fired at shoppers and staff.
Beltrane voluntarily took the place of a woman the gunman had taken a hostage and was shot and badly wounded before anti-terror police moved in to kill the attacker and end the siege.
“Lieutenant-Colonel Arnaud Beltrame has passed away. He died for his country. France will never forget his heroism,” Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said. Macron earlier paid tribute to the bravery of the police officer.