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Gunmen in Paris Kill 12 at Offices of Satirical Newspaper Gunmen in Paris Kill 12 at Offices of Satirical Newspaper
(35 minutes later)
PARIS — Masked gunmen opened fire in the offices of a French satirical newspaper on Wednesday in Paris, the police said, with initial reports saying that as many as 12 people had been killed and 10 wounded.PARIS — Masked gunmen opened fire in the offices of a French satirical newspaper on Wednesday in Paris, the police said, with initial reports saying that as many as 12 people had been killed and 10 wounded.
Xavier Castaing, the head of communications for the Paris police headquarters, said that 11 people had died, The Associated Press reported. However, a senior French prosecutor raised the toll to 12 in the early afternoon. Xavier Castaing, the head of communications for the Paris Police Headquarters, said that 11 people had died, The Associated Press reported. However, a senior French prosecutor said the toll was 12, including two police officers, in the early afternoon.
The news channel France Info quoted a witness as saying that he saw the episode from a nearby building in the heart of the French capital.The news channel France Info quoted a witness as saying that he saw the episode from a nearby building in the heart of the French capital.
“About a half an hour ago, two black-hooded men entered the building with Kalashnikovs,” the witness, Benoît Bringer, told the station.“About a half an hour ago, two black-hooded men entered the building with Kalashnikovs,” the witness, Benoît Bringer, told the station.
“A few minutes later, we heard lots of shots,” he said, adding that the men were then seen fleeing the building.“A few minutes later, we heard lots of shots,” he said, adding that the men were then seen fleeing the building.
Mr. Castaing, the police spokesman, said that the three armed men, wearing masks, had forced their way into the offices of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo and had fired indiscriminately at people in the lobby, hitting many. He said that they were carrying AK-47 weapons, and that the attack had lasted several minutes before the attackers fled by car.
The police said that an abandoned car used by the gunmen had been discovered by police in the 20th Arrondissement of Paris, a neighborhood with a large immigrant population.
President François Hollande was headed to the scene of the shooting, in the 11th Arrondissement. He said the shooting was “undoubtedly a terrorist attack” and ordered the nation’s terror alert status raised to the highest level.President François Hollande was headed to the scene of the shooting, in the 11th Arrondissement. He said the shooting was “undoubtedly a terrorist attack” and ordered the nation’s terror alert status raised to the highest level.
He also said that several terrorists attacks had been thwarted in recent weeks. He also said that several terrorist attacks had been thwarted in recent weeks.
The French authorities added security at houses of worship, news media offices and transportation hubs.The French authorities added security at houses of worship, news media offices and transportation hubs.
The cabinet was set to meet in an emergency session at 2 p.m., officials said.The cabinet was set to meet in an emergency session at 2 p.m., officials said.
The newspaper, Charlie Hebdo, has been attacked in the past for satirizing Islam and the Prophet Muhammad. Its offices were firebombed in 2011 after publishing a cartoon of the prophet on its cover promising “100 lashes if you don’t die laughing!” Charlie Hebdo has been attacked in the past for satirizing Islam and the Prophet Muhammad. Its offices were firebombed in 2011 after publishing a cartoon of the prophet on its cover promising “100 lashes if you don’t die laughing!”
The cover of the newspaper on Wednesday featured a caricature of Michel Houellebecq, a controversial novelist whose sixth novel, “Submission,” predicts a future France run by Muslims, in which women forsake Western dress and polygamy is introduced. On the cover, Mr. Houellebecq is depicted as a wizard and smoking a cigarette. “In 2022, I will do Ramadan,” he is shown saying.
The book’s publication, ahead of presidential elections in 2017, comes as the increasingly influential far-right National Front has helped spur a loud and often acrimonious debate about immigration. The attack comes as nearly 1,000 French citizens have gone or planned to join jihadist groups in Iraq and Syria last year, further fueling concerns about radical Islam encroaching into France.
Last month, Prime Minister Manuel Valls ordered hundreds of additional military personnel onto the streets to reinforce a routine deployment of security forces after a string of attacks across France raised alarm about Islamic militancy.
In Dijon and Nantes, a total of 23 people were wounded when men drove vehicles into crowds, with one of the drivers shouting an Islamic rallying cry. The authorities depicted both drivers as mentally unstable.
The attacks stoked concerns that militants were ramping up attacks against French citizens in retaliation for the French government’s support for the United States-led air campaign against Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq. The attacks came after violence attributed to lone-wolf attackers in London in 2013, in Canada in October, and in Sydney, Australia, last month.
Charlie Hebdo, which prides itself on skewering a wide range of targets with garish cartoons and incendiary headlines, has long been vulnerable at its Right Bank headquarters, where it has weathered a firebombing, a lobby shootout and now a massacre.
The journal is part of a venerable tradition in France, deploying satire and insolence to take on politicians and the police, bankers and religions of all kinds, including this week a mock debate about whether Jesus existed or not.
The weekly was born in controversy in 1970 with the ban of a publication called Hara-Kiri after it mocked the death of former President Charles de Gaulle. That prompted its journalists to set up a new weekly, Charlie Hebdo, a reference to its reprint of Charlie Brown cartoons from the United States.
The publication, which has a weekly circulation of about 30,000, suffered through periods in the 1980s when it ceased publication. Like other frail journals in the French newspaper industry, it recently issued appeals to its readers for financial aid with a declaration on its site, “Charlie Is in Danger.”