This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/23/french-police-called-to-trebes-supermarket-amid-hostage-reports-shootings

The article has changed 15 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 7 Version 8
Gunman shot dead by French police after three killed in 'terror attacks' Gunman shot dead by French police after three killed in 'terror attacks'
(about 2 hours later)
Police have shot dead a gunman who killed three people and injured three others in a series of events that culminated in a hostage-taking at a supermarket in the town of Trèbes, near Carcassonne in southern France. A gunman has killed three people in a series of attacks claimed by Islamic State near the picturesque town of Carcassonne in southern France, culminating in a three-hour hostage-taking at a supermarket before police shot him dead.
A police union official, Yves Lefebvre, confirmed the suspect was killed by police. The attacker, named as 26-year-old Redouane Lakdim, from Carcassonne was known to police for petty crimes and drug-dealing and had been under surveillance.
A major counter-terrorism operation took place in the town after the armed man hijacked a car, killing one person, and then attempted to mow down four police officers on their morning run, opening fire and injuring one officer in the shoulder. The shooting spree and supermarket hostage-taking on Friday, which also left 16 people injured including two very seriously, was the first major suspected terrorist incident since the president, Emmanuel Macron, lifted France’s two-year state of emergency last autumn and toughened anti-terror laws.
The same individual, who local officials said had sworn allegiance to Islamic State, reportedly then drove to the supermarket in Trèbes. He entered the busy store at about 11am local time (1000 GMT) and immediately opened fire, killing two people, before taking several others hostage. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attacks without providing any evidence for the claim.
The suspect was named by France’s interior minister as Redouane Lakdim, 26, from Carcassonne. He was said to be French-Moroccan and was known to security services, French media reported. Questions will be asked as to how Lakdim was able to obtain a weapon and carry out a series of attacks when he had been monitored by security services.
Visiting the scene, Gérard Collomb said the gunman was acting alone, and described him as a petty criminal known to police who had been under surveillance, but said nothing had indicated he was about to carry out the attack. The interior minister, Gérard Collomb, said: “We had monitored him and did not think he had been radicalised.” He added: “He was already under surveillance when he suddenly decided to act.”
Describing the events, Collomb said gendarmes had acted quickly to evacuate some of the people inside the supermarket. One officer offered to exchange himself for a female hostage. The gunman agreed, and the gendarme stayed with him while others were evacuated. The gendarme left his phone on the table, so security forces could hear what was going on inside. Just before 10am on Friday, Lakdim, armed with a gun, stopped a car on the outskirts of Carcassonne, shooting and killing the passenger and seriously injuring the driver.
Later, when a shot was heard inside the store, security forces immediately intervened and shot the gunman dead, Collomb said. The gendarme who had offered to take the place of a hostage was there until the end of the three-hour ordeal and had been badly wounded. The interior minister praised his heroism. He drove off in the car and followed four officers from a riot police squad unit who had been out jogging. Carcassonne, a historic fortified town, sits in an area with a high concentration of barracks and forces. Lakdim pursued the officers towards their barracks and opened fire, seriously injuring one of them who suffered broken ribs and a punctured lung. The bullet passed 3cm from his heart.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, speaking at an EU summit in Brussels, said teverything suggested the incidents were “terrorist” in nature and he would return to Paris to coordinate the response. Lakdim then drove a few kilometres to a large Super U supermarket in Trèbes, a sleepy town of 5,000 inhabitants outside Carcassonne. At about 11am, he walked into the busy shop and immediately opened fire, killing two people. Witnesses said he shouted that he was a soldier from Islamic State.
It the first major suspected terrorist incident since Macron lifted France’s two-year state of emergency last autumn and toughened anti-terror laws. Shoppers near the butcher counter in the supermarket described hearing shots and running.
The state of emergency was declared by the former Socialist president François Hollande on the night of the Paris attacks of November 2015, in which 130 people were killed, and was ended by Macron in October. Christian Guibbert, a former police officer, was doing his shopping when he heard several shots. He told BFM TV his first instinct was to hide his wife and several other customers in a butcher’s fridge in the store, before trying to escape through an emergency exit as the police were arriving.
BFM TV reported that the hostage-taker had asked for the release of Salah Abdeslam, the only surviving suspect from the jihadi group that carried out the November 2015 Paris attacks. Abdeslam is in solitary confinement in a French high-security prison as the investigation into the Paris attacks continues. “I saw one person on the ground and a person who was extremely excited who had a handgun in one hand and knife in the other and was shouting Allahu Akbar,” he said. “He was very agitated, I knew at once it was a terrorist. After 25 years in the police force, one knows these things. He shot several times in the air.”
The mayor of Trèbes, Eric Ménassi, told LCI TV the man had entered the shop screaming “Allahu Akbar, I’ll kill you all”. Gendarmes intervened to evacuate some of the people inside the supermarket, the interior minister said. They found Lakdim holding a woman hostage in order to protect himself. A gendarme offered to take the woman’s place. The gunman agreed to the swap, so the gendarme stayed with him while others were evacuated. That gendarme left his mobile phone line open on a table so security forces outside could hear what was going on inside.
When security forces outside the store heard via the telephone that a shot was fired inside, they immediately stormed the supermarket and shot Lakdim dead. The gendarme who had take the place of a hostage was found very seriously injured. The interior minister praised his “heroism”. At least one more officer was injured by gunshots during the assault.
France’s interior ministry said three people had been injured, one seriously. Police surrounded the branch of Super U and authorities warned people to avoid the area. The hostage-taking situation had lasted just over three hours, during which the gunman had asked for the release of prisoners.
Isis claimed responsibility for the fatal shootings and hostage-taking on Friday, without providing any evidence for the claim. He asked for the release of Salah Abdeslam, the only surviving suspect from the jihadi group that carried out the November 2015 Paris attacks, French state TV reported. Abdeslam is in solitary confinement in a French high-security prison as the investigation into the Paris attacks continues.
French police have undertaken training on hostage-taking situations in supermarkets in recent years. In January 2015, after the Paris terror attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, a gunman, Amédy Coulibaly, held hostages at a kosher supermarket in eastern Paris, killing four people before police shot him dead. The interior minister said Lakdim was acting alone. Security sources told Agence France-Presse that the gunman was believed to be a Moroccan national who was on a watchlist of suspected Islamic extremists, but the government did not confirm his nationality and said it did not believe he had been radicalised.
The EU offered its full support to the French people, the European commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said at the EU summit. Anti-terrorist police are heading the investigation.
“France has again been hit by a cowardly and bloody act,” Juncker told an EU summit press conference, and offered “full support to the French authorities and the French people”. In October last year, Macron toughened anti-terror laws and lifted France’s two-year state of emergency which had been declared by the former Socialist president François Hollande on the night of the Paris attacks that killed 130 people in November 2015.
From an EU summit in Brussels before rushing back to Paris, Macron said it had been no secret that the terrorist threat in France remained high.
He said the threat had been high for a few months because of a risk from individuals in France. He said: “We have a lot of individuals who have radicalised themselves.” He said some had a psychological pathology although he did not say if that was the case for Lakdim. He said the current threat in France was different to that two to three years ago when terrorist attacks were organised and ordered from Syria and Iraq. Currently the risk was from dangerous “individuals” in France, he said.
French police have undertaken training on hostage-taking situations in supermarkets in recent years. In January 2015, after the terror attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, a gunman, Amédy Coulibaly, held hostages at a kosher supermarket in eastern Paris, killing four people before police shot him dead.
FranceFrance
Paris attacksParis attacks
EuropeEurope
ParisParis
newsnews
Share on FacebookShare on Facebook
Share on TwitterShare on Twitter
Share via EmailShare via Email
Share on LinkedInShare on LinkedIn
Share on PinterestShare on Pinterest
Share on Google+Share on Google+
Share on WhatsAppShare on WhatsApp
Share on MessengerShare on Messenger
Reuse this contentReuse this content