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Arnaud Beltrame

Arnaud Beltrame (18 April 1973 – 24 March 2018) was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the French National Gendarmerie. In 2018, he was killed by Islamic State sympathizer Redouane Lakdim after exchanging himself for one of the hostages held by Lakdim at a Trebes supermarket.

Biography[]

Arnaud Beltrame was born in Etampes, France on 18 April 1973, and he graduated from Saint-Cyr before entering the Gendarmerie. He rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel and the position of Deputy Commander of the Departmental Gendarmerie's Aude Groupment, and he also became a Freemason. Beltrame became a devout Catholic and went on several pilgrimages, including one to Compostela in Spain.

On 23 March 2018, after Islamic State sympathizer Redouane Lakdim took hostages at a supermarket in Trebes, Beltrame volunteered to exchange himself for one of the civilian hostages inside of the market. Beltrame left his phone on a table so that the police outside could hear into the market, and the was later shot by Lakdim. This provoked the police to storm the building and kill Lakdim, and Beltrame was taken to the hospital in critical condition. He died a day later, and French flags and the banners of the Gendarmerie and the National Assembly were lowered to half-mast as a sign of tribute to Beltrame.

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