The gunman who had been holding hostages in a kosher supermarket in Paris has been killed by police, according to the BBC.
Reports claim that the man entered the supermarket before opening fire and shouting: “You know who I am, and I’m going to keep these hostages until the siege in Dammartin is lifted.” He was referring to another hostage situation in the northern town of Dammartin-en-Goele, where the two brothers allegedly responsible for the Charlie Hebdo attack were holding one person hostage.
Charlie Hebdo: Closely related events
The man entered the Hyper Casher supermarket near the Porte de Vincennes metro station and took several people hostage, threatening to kill them if police attempted to attack the two brothers, who were holed up just 20 miles away. It is also suspected that the man was involved in the killing of a policewoman in the south of Paris this Thursday.
The New York Times reported that a senior police official named Amedy Coulibaly as the chief suspect in that attack, and he is also believed to be inside the supermarket. A police source also claimed that Coulibaly is a member of the same jihadist organization as the Kouachi brothers, who allegedly killed 12 people in the Charlie Hebdo attack.
Successful police operations
The brothers had supposedly been holding one person hostage at a printworks warehouse in Dammartin, before police stormed the building. The BBC has since said that the two brothers, Cherif and Said Kouachi, have been killed. The hostage has been freed, while one police officer was injured during the operation.
Reports claim that police have now stormed the supermarket, killing the gunman. Police say that four of the hostages had been killed before officers entered the building. French police have advised Parisians to avoid the Porte de Vincennes area.
President Francois Hollande has sent his security chief to the scene, and is surely hoping that he can soon claim to have nullified the threat of the gunmen who have been terrorizing Northern France.
More details on the fast-moving story will surely be forthcoming as the dust settles.
