ISIS fanatic who was shot dead by French police after shouting 'Allahu Akbar, I'll kill you all' and murdering three people in supermarket siege
- The Moroccan stormed a Super U supermarket in Trebes, south west France, and took hostages this morning
- Woman who lived with the gunman has been detained for questioning, said country's top terror prosecutor
- After an hours-long standoff special police forces descended on the shop and shot suspected jihadist dead
- Fanatic, armed with a gun, knives and a grenade, had hijacked a car, killing a passenger and injuring the driver
- The gunman, named as Redouane Lakdim, 26, then shot at officers and injured one in the city of Carcassonne
- That police officer is now fighting for his life in hospital and 16 victims were wounded, two of them seriously
- He then drove to supermarket and shouted 'Allahu Akbar, I'll kill you all' before killing a worker and shopper
- Lakdim also demanded the release of Salah Abdeslam the last surviving suspect in 2015 ISIS attack in Paris
ISIS gunman and drug dealer Radouane Lakdim, 26, held shoppers at gun point at a Super U shop in Trebes, France
The ISIS fanatic shot dead by police in France after he killed three people in a gun rampage and supermarket siege has been pictured for the first time.
The lone extremist, armed with a gun, knives and a grenade, hijacked a car, shot its passenger in the head and fired at police officers in Carcassonne, south west France, before driving to a Super U shop in Trebes and taking hostages.
After screaming 'Allahu Akbar, I'll kill you all', the Moroccan Islamist, named as 26-year-old Lakdim, killed a butcher and a shopper while terrified customers either fled from the store or hid in a cold room.
During the siege, during which 16 people were wounded and two seriously hurt, Lakdim demanded the release of Salah Abdeslam, 28, the last surviving suspect in the 2015 ISIS attack in Paris that left 130 dead.
But after an hours-long standoff, special police units converged on the scene and stormed the supermarket, where 50 people had been shopping when the attack began.
President Emmanuel Macron this afternoon called Lakdim's rampage a 'terrorist act', the first to hit France since he became leader in May.
French investigators said the man was known to intelligence services and had been flagged in a database of radicalised militants. His home was raided today and a neighbour said she had seen Lakdim 'taking one of his younger sisters to school' before he launched his attack.
It has emerged that a French military officer took the place of a supermarket hostage, entering the danger zone as the drama unfolded. The 45-year-old lieutenant-colonel named as Arnaud Beltrame, who is now fighting for his life in hospital, left his mobile phone on a table so police could hear what was happening.
Through that phone, police heard gunshots inside the building and decided that elite forces had to storm the market, killing Lakdim.
The woman who lived with the gunman has been detained for questioning, the country's top anti-terror prosecutor has said.
Speaking in Carcassonne, Francois Molins said gunman Radouane Lakdim had claimed to be a soldier of ISIS before he was killed by police.
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Local press identified the gunman as Redouane Lakdim - broadcasting this picture, which appears to be a passport photo
An ISIS fanatic has been shot dead by police in France after he killed three people in a gun rampage and supermarket hostage siege. Police are pictured in the supermarket car park after the terrorist was killed
This afternoon, ISIS claimed that one of its 'soldiers' had carried out the attack ' in response to the calls to attack Coalition countries'. Masked police officers are pictured at the scene
The lights of the Eiffel Tower in Paris were dimmed for midnight in memory of the victims of the supermarket attack
After the Manchester Arena attack the lights on the iconic landmark were also dimmed in respect for the dead
After screaming 'Allahu Akbar, I'll kill you all', the Moroccan Islamist, named as 26-year-old Redouane Lakdim, killed a butcher and a shopper while terrified customers either fled from the store or hid in a cold room. Police are pictured at the scene
Forensics have descended on the scene this afternoon as it emerged that the gunman was 26-year-old Redouane Lakdim
French forensic experts check a car - a white Opel Corsa - that is allegedly linked to the suspect in some way in the car park of the Super U supermarket where the massacre occurred. It has not been made clear if this was the car hijacked by Redouane Lakdim
A military helicopter flies over the Super U supermarket where a gunman claiming allegiance to the ISIS held hostages before being shot dead
Police have stormed a French supermarket and shot dead an ISIS gunman who was holding hostages as it emerged he had already killed someone before beginning his siege. Pictures n social media show police outside the supermarket
After an hours-long standoff, special police units converged on the scene and stormed the supermarket. French President Emmanuel Macron this afternoon called the rampage a 'terrorist act'
Pictures capture the moment French president Emmanuel Macron was informed by his security advisor about the hostage situation in Trebes
The fanatic, armed with a gun, knives and a grenade, had hijacked a car, killing a passenger and injuring the driver, before shooting at police officers in Carcassonne, south west France, and driving to the supermarket in Trebes. Pictures show a car that was damaged during one of the earlier shootings in Carcassone
This afternoon, ISIS claimed responsibility for the shooting spree, saying one of its 'soldiers' had acted 'in response to calls to attack Coalition countries'. It was referring to the U.S.-led coalition that has been carrying out airstrikes against ISIS in Syria and Iraq since 2014. France is part of that coalition.
Interior minister Gerard Collomb said the attacker was Redouane Lakdim, 26, who lived with his parents and his four sisters in a flat on a council estate in Carcassonne, a town that is a UN World Heritage site and a major French tourist attraction
It was raided on Friday early in the afternoon, where a neighbour said she had seen Lakdim 'taking one of his younger sisters to school on Friday morning'.
Lakdim was subject to an S-file, which means the intelligence services considered him a security threat. He spent a short time in prison in 2016
Collomb said Lakdim was not considered a terror threat - despite earlier reports.
'He was known by the police for petty crimes, we had monitored him and did not think he had been radicalised,' Collomb said after arriving at the scene of the hostage-taking in the town of Trebes, near Carcassonne.
'He was already under surveillance when he suddenly decided to act,' he said.
One of those killed in the attack was Portuguese, the nation's government confirmed.
Miguel Silva, head of the department that deals with Portuguese ex-pats, said: 'The death of a Portuguese citizen has been confirmed... by French authorities to our consular services.'
The gunman had earlier held up a car in the nearby city of Carcassone, killing a passenger and then firing six shots at police officers, all members of the city's CRS 57 unit wearing athletic clothes with police insignia. Shouting 'vengeance for Syria', he injured one officer, before driving off towards the supermarket where he held several hostages. The injured officer is not in life-threatening condition.
Forensic officers were combing the scene of the massacre on Friday afternoon and set up a cordon in the supermarket car park around a white Opel Corsa, thought to be in some way linked to the gumnan. It has not been made clear whether this was the car hijacked by Redouane Lakdim.
Who was the French supermarket gunman? ISIS fanatic Redouane Lakdim was a Moroccan national drug dealer who was on the police watch list
A specialist police officer at the scene of the triple shooting by Islamic State fanatic Redouane Lakdim
The gunman who killed three people in southwest France on Friday before being shot dead by police was a 26-year-old known as a small-time drug dealer with a history of minor crimes.
The rap sheet against Redouane Lakdim, who lived in nearby Carcassonne, eventually drew deeper scrutiny by investigators worried he was at risk of Islamic radicalisation.
Lakdim, who has Moroccan nationality, was added to a watchlist of people considered possible extremists, security sources told AFP.
'He was known by the police for petty crimes, we had monitored him and did not think he had been radicalised,' Interior Minister Gerard Collomb told reporters at the scene in Trebes.
Le Parisien newspaper reported that Lakdim lived with his parents, and quoted a neighbour saying he had dropped off one of his little sisters at school on Friday morning.
Another neighbour contacted by the paper described him as 'calm' and 'nice' who 'always had a kind word to say', adding that he regularly attended a mosque.
Yet Lakdim reportedly shouted 'Allahu Akbar' (God is greatest) as he stormed a supermarket and took hostages in an attack that was later claimed by the Islamic State group.
Collomb said that Lakdim had 'suddenly decided to act'.
His trajectory appears to have followed a grimly familiar pattern in France over recent years of young men progressing from petty crimes into terrorism, often despite surveillance by the authorities.
Since the January 2015 massacre at the Charlie Hebdo newspaper in Paris by two men claiming allegiance to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, more than 240 people have been killed in jihadist attacks.
A few days later Amedy Coulibaly stormed a Jewish supermarket in Paris, taking hostages and killing four people before being killed by police.
All three men had a history of extremism and were known to French intelligence, with Coulibaly first meeting one of the Charlie Hebdo attackers while in prison.
And in the deadliest attack, at the Stade France and the Bataclan concert hall and nearby bars in November 2015, ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud and Salah Abdeslam, the only surviving commando member, had both served time for robbery around 2011.
A string of deadly gun and knife attacks has followed, and Collomb has said dozens of others have been thwarted by police as the government stepped up anti-terror measures.
In Carcassonne itself, police had arrested a 22-year-old man in June 2016 on suspicions he was planning to target American and Russian tourists, after months of surveillance.
A French gendarme (left) secures a perimeter near the Super U supermarket. France's interior ministry is describing the suspect in the supermarket shooting and hostage-taking as a 26-year-old petty criminal who was considered radicalised and under police surveillance
Armed response: A military helicopter swoops low over Trebes this afternoon in the wake of the terrorist shooting rampage
The gunman had earlier held up a car in the nearby city of Carcassone, killing a passenger and then firing six shots at police officers, all members of the city's CRS 57 unit, while shouting 'vengeance for Syria'. He then drove off towards the supermarket where he held several hostages. The injured officer is not in life-threatening condition
Gendarmes of the French special unit GIGN are seen next to a supermarket after a hostage situation in Trebes, southwest France
Forensic police investigate after the assault on the Super U supermarket where a gunman claiming allegiance to ISIS was holding hostages in Trebes
A medical air-ambulance helicopter approaches the Super U supermarket as it emerged two people had been killed and more injured
Investigators think the suspect hijacked a car after leaving the nearby city of Carcassonne and one of the people in the hijacked vehicle was killed. Heavily armed officers later descended on ta supermarket where he was holding hostages (pictured)
Roads around Carcassonne and Trebes were closed down as the drama unfolded this morning. Police officers are pictured at the entrance to Trebes
Gendarmes arrive at the scene of the siege to secure the entrance to the Super U supermarket where hostages were held by the lone gunman
A French gendarme (left) secures a perimeter near the Super U supermarket where a gunman claiming allegiance to Islamic State held hostages in Trebes
A police officer, armed with a loaded assault rifle, stands near the supermarket where Redouane Lakdim killed a butcher and a shopper
This afternoon, ISIS claimed that one of its 'soldiers' had carried out the attack ' in response to the calls to attack Coalition countries'
Masked police officers are seen after they raided the Super U supermarket, killing the gunman who had claimed allegiance to ISIS
Police traced the car involved in the shooting in Carcassonne to the hostage-taking in Trebes after it was found in the car park of the supermarket, a security source told AFP.
Eric Menassi, the mayor of Trebes, confirmed that 'a supermarket worker was shot dead' and a CRS officer 'wounded in the shoulder'.
Carole, who was shopping at the supermarket, described how people had taken refuge in a cold room.
'A man shouted and fired several times. I saw a cold room door, I asked people to come and take shelter,' she told Franceinfo radio. 'We were ten, and we stayed an hour. There were more gunshots and we went out the back door.'
Another customer in the supermarket in southern France that was taken over by a gunman describes the assailant as a 'very agitated man shouting several times 'Allahu akbar''.
Christian Guibbert told reporters: 'We heard an explosion, well, several explosions.
'So I went to see what was happening and I saw a man lying on the floor and another person, very agitated, who had a gun in one hand and a knife in the other one.'
Guibbert said he had sought shelter with his wife, sister-in-law and other customers into the butchery's refrigerator.
Then he went back into the supermarket's main room and walked toward the assailant, calling police and describing the situation.
He says the suspect 'ran after me'.
Guibbert escaped out an emergency market door as elite police forces arrived to storm the building.
A security source, said: 'Most of the Super U staff and customers managed to get away.'
Local media reported that Lakdim was demanding the release of Salah Abdeslam - the prime surviving suspect in the ISIS attacks that killed 130 people in Paris in 2015.
Abdeslam, a French citizen born and raised in Brussels, went on trial in Belgium last month. He is accused of 'attempted murder in a terrorist context' over a Brussels shootout in March 2016, four months after he fled Paris on the night of the carnage during which his brother was among the suicide bombers.
Helicopters could be seen circling over Trebes today, a picturesque medieval town of around 5,000 people, while heavily armed police had closed down roads surrounding the supermarket.
As the drama unfolded this morning, police led the hostage-taker's mother, who lives in Carcassonne, to the supermarket in an effort to persuade him to give-up.
'She's gone to talk to him - to try and gethim to drop his weapons, and give up,' said a source at the scene. 'His sister is there too.'
This was a tactic used by the authoritiesin 1994 when Armed Islamic Group terrorists hijacked an Air France plane in Algiers, the capital of Algeria, and wanted to fly it to Paris to crash into the Eiffel Tower.
The leader of the hijackers disobeyed his mother - who spoke to him through a loudspeaker - and carried on with the terrorist attack. France's GIGN was involved, and it ended with the deaths of all four hijackers, and three passengers, with the plane only getting as far as Marseille.
Meanwhile a French policeman who was shot by the Islamist after swapping himself for a hostage has been hailed as a hero.
A man lowers the French flag to half mast at the council building during an incident in Trebes, southern France, on Friday in the hours after the March 23 attack
A police officer stands looking at his mobile phone while another watches a white van being hoisted onto a transporter truck. It is not known who the van belongs to
A French flag is lowered to half mast after yet another terrorist attack in France. Since the January 2015 massacre at the Charlie Hebdo newspaper in Paris by two men claiming allegiance to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, more than 240 people have been killed in jihadist attacks
Shots were heard as the man stormed into a Super U at around 11.15am in the town of Trebes, south west France, screaming 'Allahu Akbar, I'll kill you all and 'vengeance for Syria'. Police are pictured at the scene
Police blocked off roads to Trebes as the hostage situation unfolded in the town this morning. The man was later shot dead by armed officers
Earlier, the man had opened fire with six shots aimed at police officers out jogging in Carcassonne. Experts are pictured examining the scene
The man is said to have fired six shots at police officers, all members of the city's CRS 57 unit, before driving off. The injured officer is not in life-threatening condition. Police are pictured investigating the shooting
Customers and workers fled from the shop in terror but a butcher and a shopper are believed to have been killed and about a dozen more are injured. This was the scene on the outskirts of Trebes this afternoon
The shootings come with France still on high alert after a string of jihadist attacks since 2015, starting in January that year with the assault on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo that left 12 people dead
Hostage taker called for the release of Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam
The hostage taker called for the release of Salah Abdeslam, the ISIS terrorist who helped murder 130 people in Paris in November 2015.
Abdeslam, a 28-year-old French national of Moroccan descent, is currently in solitary confinement in a high-security prison near Paris, while awaiting trial.
Abdeslam has admitted helping coordinate the 2015 attacks, but failed to let off his suicide bomb vest out the Stade de France, France's national sports stadium, during a football match between France and Germany.
He is the only terrorist survivor of the murderous 2015 ISIS attack in Paris and was Europe's most-wanted fugitive when he was captured in Brussels after four months on the run.
He was extradited from Belgium to France and imprisoned, but has not gone to trial in France.
Prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks Salah Abdeslam (R) sits as he is surrounded by Belgian special police officers in the courtroom prior to the opening of the trial in Brussels, Belgium, 05 February 2018
Abdeslam did, however, appear in court in Brussels last month and said silence would be his defence, as he systematically refused to answer the judge's questions.
Abdeslam and another man, Sofiane Ayari, went on trial facing charges of attempted murder in a terrorist context for a shootout with police on March 15, 2016.
Abdeslam escaped out a window with Ayari while a third Islamic State suspect died. The pair were captured a few days later on March 18.
On March 22, 2016, Islamic State suicide bombers struck the Brussels metro and airport.
Prosecutors have asked for the maximum 20-year prison sentence.
The policeman was among a group of officers who rushed to the scene after the attacker stormed the store and fired on shoppers and staff before taking them hostage.
Speaking at the scene Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said a police team immediately intervened after the start of the siege at around 11 a.m.
'They managed to get some of the people out,' he said, but the attacker kept one hostage back as a human shield.
A senior officer then offered to take the hostage's place and remained holed up with Lakdim while negotiations to end the standoff continued.
The officer 'left his telephone on the table', to allow police that had surrounded the building in the sleepy town of 5,000 inhabitants listen in, Collomb said.
'When we heard shots the GIGN (an elite police force) intervened,' the minister said, adding that the policeman was 'seriously injured'.
Collomb praised the officer for his 'courage' and 'act of heroism'. An officer from the police SWAT team was also hurt in the operation to kill the gunman.
The attack poses a new challenge to Macron's leadership as he faces nationwide strikes and criticism of his reforms, which include a tough new counterterrorism law that gives police extra powers to conduct searches and hold people under house arrest.
Macron rushed back from an EU summit in Brussels to the crisis center in Paris that was overseeing the investigation into the attack.
Standing next to Macron in Brussels, German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed her sympathy with those affected by the hostage-taking.
'When it comes to terrorist threats, we stand by France,' she said.
Today's shootings come with France still on high alert after a string of jihadist attacks since 2015, starting in January that year with the assault on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo that left 12 people dead.
France also suffered major attacks in Paris in November 2015 when IS jihadists killed 130 people in bombings and shootings at bars, restaurants, the Bataclan concert venue and the national stadium.
In July 2016, in another attack claimed by IS, a man drove a truck through revellers celebrating Bastille Day in the Riviera resort of Nice, killing 84 people.
Police cordoned off an area near Super U in Trebes, France, amid reports of a hostage situation. The gunman killed two inside the shop before he was shot dead
As pictures emerged on social media showing police gathering outside, French President Emmanuel Macron has asked Interior Minister Gerard Collomb to head to the scene
A source in the town has claimed that a butcher in the supermarket has been shot dead and another person is seriously wounded. There are also reports that the gunman was carrying grenades. Police are pictured at the scene
A state of emergency put in place just after the Paris attacks was finally lifted in October last year, but soldiers continue to patrol major tourist sites and transport hubs under an anti-terror mission.
If the link to ISIS is confirmed, the hostage-taking would be the first deadly attack in France since October, when two young women were stabbed to death outside Marseille's main train station.
Interior Minister Gerard Collomb was heading to the scene, he wrote on Twitter.
The area of southwest France where Friday's shootings took place has been scarred by Islamic extremism before.
In 2012, Mohamed Merah shot dead seven people including three Jewish schoolchildren in the nearby city of Toulouse.
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