A photo of Lieutenant Colonel Arnaud Beltrame placed on a bunch of flowers at the main gate of the Police headquarters in Carcassonne, France, Saturday, March 24, 2018, following an attack on a supermarket in Trebes in the south of the country on Friday. A French police officer who offered himself up to an Islamic extremist gunman in exchange for a hostage died of his injuries, raising the death toll in the attack to four, and the officer was honored Saturday as a national hero of "exceptional courage and selflessness." (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
The Associated Press
TREBES, France (AP) - A French bishop has paid tribute to a heroic police officer who lost his life after swapping himself with a supermarket employee in a hostage situation, saying his sacrifice helped save the nation.
Survivors and families of the victims of Friday's Islamic extremist attack packed the Saint-Etienne-de-Trebes church for Sunday's special Mass honoring Lt. Col. Arnaud Beltrame and the three others killed in the attack.
Members of the region's Muslim community were among those mourning at the special Palm Sunday service. The manager of the supermarket sat in the front row, alongside her husband, the town mayor.
The bishop of Carcassonne and Narbonne, Alain Planet, hailed Beltrame's "extraordinary devotion," saying "the whole of France has been touched by this."
Residents have been laying flowers in front of the Trebes supermarket where the attacker seized hostages Friday.
The director of the national gendarme service is meeting Sunday in Carcassonne with Beltrame's widow and French President Emmanuel Macron has also ordered a national memorial for Beltrame.
Attacker Radouane Lakdim was killed by police after Beltrame helped them storm the market.
Two people remain in custody in the investigation.
A photo of Lieutenant Colonel Arnaud Beltrame placed on flowers at the main gate of the Police headquarters in Carcassonne, France, Saturday, March 24, 2018, following an attack on a supermarket in Trebes in the south of the country on Friday. A French police officer who offered himself up to an Islamic extremist gunman in exchange for a hostage died of his injuries, raising the death toll in the attack to four, and the officer was honored Saturday as a national hero of "exceptional courage and selflessness." (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
The Associated Press
A photo of Lieutenant Colonel Arnaud Beltrame placed on flowers at the main gate of the Police headquarters in Carcassonne, France, Saturday, March 24, 2018, following an attack on a supermarket in Trebes in the south of the country on Friday. A French police officer who offered himself up to an Islamic extremist gunman in exchange for a hostage died of his injuries, raising the death toll in the attack to four, and the officer was honored Saturday as a national hero of "exceptional courage and selflessness." (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
The Associated Press
A woman places flowers at the main gate of the Police headquarters in Carcassonne, France, Saturday, March 24, 2018, following an attack on a supermarket in Trebes in the south of the country on Friday. A French police officer who offered himself up to an Islamic extremist gunman in exchange for a hostage died of his injuries, raising the death toll in the attack to four, and the officer was honored Saturday as a national hero of "exceptional courage and selflessness." (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
The Associated Press
A man places flowers at the main gate of the police headquarters in Carcassonne on Saturday, March 24, 2018, following an attack on a supermarket in the south of France on Friday. A French police officer who offered himself up to an Islamic extremist gunman in exchange for a hostage died of his injuries, raising the death toll in the attack to four, and the officer was honored Saturday as a national hero of "exceptional courage and selflessness." (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
The Associated Press
People stand next to flowers placed at the main gate of the police headquarters in Carcassonne, France, on Saturday, March 24, 2018, following an attack on a supermarket in the south of France on Friday. A French police officer who offered himself up to an Islamic extremist gunman in exchange for a hostage died of his injuries, raising the death toll in the attack to four, and the officer was honored Saturday as a national hero of "exceptional courage and selflessness." (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
The Associated Press