Arnaud Beltrame (pictured) was seriously wounded after agreeing to take the place of a female hostage during a terrifying stand-off in Trebes, France. He married his partner in a moving ceremony in hospital hours before passing away

A French policeman who was shot by an ISIS fanatic in a supermarket siege was married on his deathbed just hours before he succumbed to his injuries.

Arnaud Beltrame was gunned down after agreeing to take the place of a female hostage who was being held at the Super U store in the southern town of Trebes during a terrifying stand-off.

The 45-year-old was one of the first officers to arrive at the supermarket, where an ISIS-linked terrorist began firing on shoppers and staff.

Sixteen people were wounded, two seriously, and four were killed in the shooting spree at about 11am on Friday.

Beltrame, who has no children, suffered four bullet wounds and later died, making him the fourth fatality in the attack.

It has now emerged that the brave officer wed his partner Marielle while on his deathbed in a hospital in Carcassonne.

His bride wept uncontrollably as they said their prayers in the Catholic ceremony just hours before he passed away.

The couple met during a tour of an abbey in France in 2016 and had planned a church wedding for June.

Father Jean-Baptiste, the priest who carried out the moving service, said the pair had 'spent some 30 hours preparing for their marriage ceremony'.

He added: 'I gave him the sacrament of marriage, and the sacrament of the sick'.

Beltrame was an 'extremely intelligent and courageous man', he said.

A sign reading 'closed road' at the entrance of the Super U supermarket the day after the attack which shook the sleepy town

Samia Menassi, director of the Super U store, praised Beltrame for saving her co-worker's life

She said her colleague was in a 'catastrophic state' after the death of the officer, who agreed to swap places with her as a hostage

France was in mourning on Saturday and flowers were laid at the Gendarmerie Nationale in Carcassonne in tribute to the officer

The director of the Super U store praised Beltrame for saving her co-worker's life when he agreed to swap places with her as a hostage.

Samia Menassi said that her colleague was in a 'catastrophic state' after the death of the officer.

Ms Menassi recalled the petrifying moment she heard the first gunshots.

'I said to the girls, 'Call the police, there's a terrorist in the shop,' she told AFP.

'We felt powerless because we still had colleagues in there.'

Gendarmes stand guard outside the Gendarmerie Nationale (left) as mourners came to lay flowers

Lakdim was said to have demanded the release of Salah Abdeslam, the most important surviving suspect in the 13 November 2015 attacks in Paris which killed 130 people.

Most of the approximately 50 staff and shoppers in the supermarket escaped after hiding in a cold storage room then fleeing through an emergency exit.

News of Beltrame's death was first announced France's Interior Minister Gerard Collomb.

He said in a Twitter post: 'Died for his country. France will never forget his heroism, bravery and sacrifice.

'With a heavy heart, I send the support of the entire country to his family, friends and colleagues of the Gendarmerie of the Aude.'

The country was in mourning on Saturday and flags were at half-staff at all French gendarmeries.

#ArnaudBeltrame has been the most used hashtag on Twitter in France, with many social media users paying tribute to a 'hero' who gave his life to save others.

The gunman, identified as 25-year-old Redouane Lakdim, began his rampage by firing on a group of police joggers.

He then opened fire on two passengers in a car, killing one and wounding the other, before driving off in the vehicle.

Redouane Lakdim, 25, killed four people during the rampage in France

Lakdim then made his way to the Super U store where he shot dead two people.

The attacker took one female hostage to use as a human shield.

It was then that Beltrame stepped in to offer himself to the gunman.

He remained Lakdim's hostage while tense negotiations ensued.

Beltrame cleverly left his mobile phone on the table so police surrounding the building in the sleepy town of 5,000 inhabitants could listen in.

Through that phone, officers heard gunshots ring out inside the building.

Elite police stormed the building and gunned down the assailant, putting an end to the violence.

Police arrested two people after the attack: a woman connected to Lakdim and a 17-year-old man said to be one of his friends.

People laid flowers in front of the Gendarmerie Nationale in Carcassonne in tribute to Beltrame

Collomb praised Beltrame for his 'courage' and 'act of heroism'.

He said Lakdim, a Moroccan-born French national, had been monitored on suspicion of having been radicalised but had been deemed not to pose a threat.

The killer was known to authorities for drug-dealing and other petty crimes.

Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said he had been on an extremist watch-list due to his links with the radical Salafist movement, an offshoot of Sunni Islam.

Super U remains closed and surrounded by police tape.

Police are pictured outside the supermarket after the gunman was killed during the stand-off

Police are pictured in the supermarket car park after the terrorist was killed

Beltrame was a hero lieutenant-colonel who was knighted the Legion of Honor in May 2012.

The soldier was one of just a handful of candidates chosen to join the gendarmerie's elite GSIGN force in 2003.

He was deployed to Iraq in 2005, where he won a Cross for Military Valour.

Beltrame joined the Republican Guard protecting the presidential palace after returning from Iraq, and also worked as an advisor to the environment ministry.

He had been named just last year as deputy chief of the gendarmerie in the Aude.

And the courageous Frenchman was well-prepared for the terrifying situation he found himself in on Friday.

In December he took part in an exercise which replicated the scenario of a mass killing in a supermarket in Carcassonne.

Gerard Collomb speaks to the press in the wake of Friday's supermarket siege. He hailed Beltrame a 'hero'

Beltrame's brother Cedric told RTL radio his brother 'gave his life for strangers.'

'[He] was well aware he had almost no chance. He was very aware of what he was doing,' he said.

He added: 'If we don't describe him as a hero, I don't know what you need to do to be a hero. It's a word I think is appropriate for him in such tragic circumstances.'

Beltrame's mother, who has not been named, said she was unsurprised her son put others' lives before his own in the siege.

She told told RTL radio: 'I'm not surprised. I knew it had to be him. He has always been like that.

'It's someone, since he was born, who gives everything for his homeland.'

Asked if she was proud of him, she said he would have told her 'I'm doing my job mom, that's all.'

Forty-five-year-old Beltrame (pictured) was knighted the Legion of Honor in May 2012

Beltrame (pictured) was a qualified parachutist who served in Iraq in 2005

Prosecutor Mr Molins, spoke from Carcassonne highlighting Beltrame's heroism.

'I wish to underline the heroism of the lieutenant-colonel who, at the risk of his life, made the choice to take the place of the hostages,' he said.

President Emmanuel Macron issued a statement saying he was 'deeply moved' to learn of the officer's death from his injuries.

He said of Beltrame: 'In offering himself as a hostage to the terrorist holed up in the Trebes supermarket, lieutenant colonel Beltrame saved the life of a civilian hostage, showing exceptional self-sacrifice and courage.'

In a statement shortly before dawn on Saturday, Macron said: 'He fell as a hero, giving up his life to halt the murderous outfit of a jihadist terrorist.'

Beltrame graduated in 1999 from France's top military college, Saint-Cyr, where his superiors described him as someone who 'fought until the end and never gave up', Macron said.

He added: 'Lieutenant-Colonel Beltrame displayed exceptional calm in the heat of the moment and showed the virtue of our security forces in astonishing fashion.

'His leadership abilities and his dedication were appreciated by everyone, notably in developing the anti-terror capacity of the gendarmerie in the Aude.'

French president Emmanuel Macron was informed by his security advisor about the hostage situation in Trebes during an EU meeting

Jose Luis Carneiro, Secretary of State for Portuguese Communities Abroad, confirmed a Portuguese national was among the four dead after the terror attack.

But Renato Silva, 27, from Coimbra north of Lisbon, is still alive in hospital in Perpignan.

Relatives told media in his native city he was in an induced coma after being shot in the eye.

Mr Silva was the driver of the white Opel car the terrorist hijacked. The passenger died.

He is understood to have been living in France for around two years after completing university studies in Coimbra.

Carneiro blamed the gaffe on an 'error of communication' between authorities in France tasked to deal with the attack.

Masked police officers are pictured at the scene - where the hero officer took the place of a female hostage

Flowers and messages were laid outside the Gendarmerie Nationale in Carcassonne to honour Beltrame

Armed officers stand guard outside the Gendarmerie Nationale in Carcassonne, where flowera have been laid in commemoration of Beltrame and his courageous sacrifice

Che Donald, vice chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said: 'The bravery shown by Lt-Col Arnaud Beltrame is both remarkable and moving.

'Despite knowing the risks he selflessly placed himself in harm's way and sadly paid the ultimate price.

'This officer put his duty to protect the public before his own safety, as so many of our own do each and every day.

'Our thoughts are with him, his family and colleagues in the gendarme at this time.

'It comes just days after we marked the anniversary of PC Keith Palmer's tragic passing at Westminster and is another reminder of the commitment and heroism of police officers everywhere.'

Prime Minister Theresa May said: 'I am saddened to learn that Lt Col Arnaud Beltrame, the Gendarme who took the place of a hostage in the attack at Trebes, has died.

'His sacrifice and courage will never be forgotten.'

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

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack and Macron has said security services are checking that claim.

More than 240 people have been killed in France in attacks since 2015 by assailants who either pledged allegiance to Islamic State or were inspired by the group.

The Super U store was the first deadly attack since October 2017, when a man stabbed two young women to death in the port city of Marseille.

Beltrame is the seventh member of France's security forces to be killed in a jihadist attack since 2012.

France is a member of the US-led coalition that has fought the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.

Soldiers and police have often found themselves the target in domestic attacks.

The country remains on high alert.