According to The NY Times and The Evening Standard, Xavier Jugelé, the police officer killed in a terrorist attack in Paris on Thursday night was an openly out and proud gay man. He was in a police vehicle on the heavily guarded Champs-Élysées when the gunman opened fire, killing him and wounding two other officers, along with a bystander.
Jugelé had been a Paris police officer since 2010. He had been among the officers who responded to a terrorist attack at the Bataclan Concert Hall in November 2015 that left 130 people dead, and he had been part of the audience when Sting helped reopen that 19th-century theatre a year later.
French President François Hollande said that an official tribute would be paid to Jugelé in the coming days. Matthias Fekl, the French Interior Minister said that flags at police stations would be flown at half-staff in tribute.
Mickaël Bucheron, head of FLAG, the French Association of LGBT police officers:
“He was a simple man who loved his job, and he was really committed to the LGBT cause. He joined the association a few years ago, and he protested with us when there was the homosexual propaganda ban at the Sochi Olympic Games.”
At the reopening of the Bataclan in November 2016, Jugelé told People Magazine:
“I’m happy to be here. Glad the Bataclan is reopening. It’s symbolic. We’re here tonight as witnesses. Here to defend our civic values. This concert’s to celebrate life. To say no to terrorists. It doesn’t feel strange, it feels important. Symbolic.”
Xavier Jugelé leaves behind a partner. They had no children. He was just 37-years-old.