Rabat - The partner of Xavier Jugéle, the policeman killed in last Thursday's terrorist attack at Champs Élysées, paid his respects to the officer at a national memorial ceremony held on Tuesday in Paris.
Rabat – The partner of Xavier Jugéle, the policeman killed in last Thursday’s terrorist attack at Champs Élysées, paid his respects to the officer at a national memorial ceremony held on Tuesday in Paris.
Étienne Cardiles left for work last Thursday morning while his partner was still sleeping. He did not expect that it was the last time he would ever see him.Cardiles’ Xavier Jugelé, was the sole police officer killed on April 20 when French national Karim Cheurfi opened fire on a police van. Two other officers and a French tourist were injured before Cheurfi, acting on behalf of the Islamic State, was fatally shot by police.
At the national ceremony held in police headquarters in honor of the deceased, Cardiles delivered a eulogy to his partner, describing the day of the tragic incident.
Restraining tears, Cardiles addressed his late partner.
“Xavier, Thursday morning, as usual, I went to work and you were still asleep. We talked over the course of the day about our holiday project […] Visa details, our accommodations. These concerns invaded our messages with a frenzy all the more joyful as our airline tickets had been booked since Tuesday.”
In the presence of the President François Hollande and current presidential candidates, including centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, Cardiles spoke in an open courtyard surrounded by his partner’s grieving colleagues.
“When the first messages appeared that warned Parisians that a serious event was ongoing on the Champs Élysée and that a police officer had lost his life, a little voice told me it was you,” he said.
Attempting to hold his tears, Cardiles went on to say that he hopes such this tragic event will never happen again and that he is grateful that his partner breathed his last breath immediately.
“You were taken on the spot, and I thank your lucky star,” he continued. “I went home in the evening without you, with deep and extreme pain. That may calm one day, I don’t know.”
