A gendarme hailed as a national hero after he volunteered to take the place of a female hostage being held by a terrorist gunman has been named as Lieutenant-Colonel Arnaud Beltrame.
The 44-year-old officer is fighting for his life in hospital after he was shot several times by the suspected Islamist extremist who killed three people and injured 16 others before being killed by French special forces.
Beltrame, described by French president Emmanuel Macron as a “credit to our country” and a hero who had “saved lives”, played a vital role in the four-hour hostage drama.
unknown_human on March 23rd, 2018 at 21:25 UTC »
EDIT: Rest in peace Arnaud Beltrame.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/23/heroic-gendarme-swapped-places-with-hostage-in-french-attack
RoyalScar on March 23rd, 2018 at 21:34 UTC »
Balls of steel Arnaud. Keep fighting.
CaptainChaos74 on March 23rd, 2018 at 23:02 UTC »
He also had the presence of mind to leave his phone lying around with an open line so his colleagues could hear what was going on inside.