Hero: French cop dies after ISIS terrorist shot him in the throat when he swapped himself with female hostage

A French policeman who was shot by an ISIS Muslim terrorist in a supermarket siege after agreeing to take the place of a female hostage has died in hospital.

 Lt.-Col Arnaud Beltrame, 45, was gunned down after rushing to the site of the terror attack in the southwest town of Trebes.

He secretly left his phone on so officers outside could hear what was happening inside — meaning they knew to storm the supermarket straight away when they heard gunshots.

His death was confirmed by Interior Minister Gérard Collomb, who wrote on Twitter: “He died for his country. France will never forget his heroism, his bravery, his sacrifice.”

Paying tribute, President Emmanuel Macron said simply: “He saved lives.”

 

Col Beltrame was one of 16 people injured in the atrocity after the Muslim terrorist, Moroccan Redouane Lakdim, 25, went on a deadly four-hour rampage.

The Muslim terrorist was shot and eliminated.

Armed with a gun, knives and a grenade, the Muslim terrorist began his shooting at around 10am just after reportedly dropping his little sister off at school — killing a driver and wounding passenger as he hijacked their car near the town of Carcassonne.

The terrorist then exchanged gunfire with nearby cops before speeding to the Super U supermarket.

There the Moroccan Islamist screamed ‘Allahu Akbar, I’ll kill you all’ as he killed a butcher and a shopper while terrified customers either fled from the shop or hid in a cold room.

The terrorist demanded the release of Salah Abdeslam, the last surviving terrorist in the November 2015 ISIS attack in Paris that left 130 dead. The 28-year-old French national Muslim of Moroccan descent, is currently in solitary confinement in a high-security prison, awaiting trial.

 

Christian Guibbert, one of about 50 shoppers inside the market, said the terrorist ran after him but he escaped through an emergency exit.

Shop worker Jacky, told Europe 1 radio he “heard people shouting and a big ‘boom.’ It was a gunshot, then a second gunshot.

“After that, my colleagues came toward me saying: ‘Come on Jacky, we need to leave! There’s someone who’s firing shots, he’s shouting “Allahu akbar”.