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French police identify gunmen who stormed satirical newspaper, killing at least 12 French police identify suspects in attack on Paris newspaper; manhunt underway
(about 2 hours later)
PARIS — French police have identified three men as suspects in Wednesday’s massacre of a dozen people at the offices of a satirical weekly newspaper, a brazen attack that set off a massive manhunt and sparked widespread condemnation of the killings. PARIS — France’s deadliest terrorist attack in modern memory unfolded with chilling precision here Wednesday as gunmen speaking fluent French burst into a satirical newspaper’s weekly staff meeting and raked the room with bullets, leaving behind what one witness described as “absolute carnage.”
According to police and other officials, two of the suspects are French brothers aged 34 and 32 years old from the Paris region, and the third is an 18-year-old from the northeastern city of Reims. There were conflicting reports on whether the teenager was also a French national. The massacre claimed a dozen lives, including the provocative paper’s well-known editor and two police officers, while traumatizing a nation that had long feared such an assault but was nonetheless shocked by the ferocity and military-style professionalism with which it was carried out.
French police surrounded an apartment building in the northeastern city of Reims late Wednesday as part of the manhunt for the three masked gunmen who assaulted the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo, gunning down the editor, several staffers and two police officers before fleeing by car. After shooting dead their final victim, the exultant killers calmly fled the scene, sparking a manhunt that extended across this capital city and deep into its suburbs.
French television showed heavily armed police taking up positions around the building in Reims, about 90 miles northeast of Paris. French news media reported that police believed the attackers were holed up inside the building. France raised its security alarm to the highest level and mobilized teams on foot, by air and in vehicles seeking the three masked assailants, who carried out the assault shouting the Arabic call of “Allahu Akbar,” or “God is great,” amid the gunfire, according to video posted by France’s state-run broadcaster.
Unconfirmed reports subsequently indicated that police were no longer surrounding the building. By early Thursday, police had surrounded an apartment building in the city of Reims, about a two-hour drive from Paris, with French media reporting that a swarm of heavily armed officers was preparing to raid the site. But they pulled back around 2 a.m., apparently without making any arrests.
In a late-night telephone interview with CNN, Paris Deputy Mayor Patrick Klugman said the three gunmen have been identified. One “may have been prosecuted in the past,” he said, without disclosing the charge. According to police and other officials, two of the suspects are French brothers in their early 30s, Said and Cherif Kouachi. Both are from the Paris region. The third is 18-year-old Hamyd Mourad from Reims. There were conflicting reports on whether the teenager was also a French national.
There was no immediate official confirmation of any arrests in the case. Early Thursday, the French outlet Le Figaro was reporting the youngest suspect had surrendered to police in Charleville-Mezieres which is near border with Belgium.
The Associated Press, citing police officials, named the suspects as Frenchmen Said Kouachi and Cherif Kouachi. The news agency identified the 18-year-old as Hamyd Mourad. It quoted one official as saying the suspects were linked to a Yemeni terrorist network. Wednesday’s mass killing added Paris to a list of European capitals, including London and Madrid, that have experienced major terrorist attacks since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.
Cherif Kouachi was convicted on terrorism charges in 2008 for helping to send fighters to Iraq’s insurgency and was sentenced to 18 months in prison, AP reported. The assault came at a time of heightened anxiety across Europe about the threat of radical Islamist groups as thousands of young men and women from across the continent have poured into Syria to join the fight there. Many have come home radicalized by the experience.
The developments came after security forces blanketed the streets of this capital Wednesday night in a widening manhunt for the perpetrators of the late-morning assault. There was no indication Wednesday that any of the three assailants had battlefield experience. But experts said the men were well prepared for their mission, and there were widespread reports that one of the alleged suspects, Cherif Kouachi, had been convicted of recruiting fighters to battle American forces in Iraq.
The attack — the country’s deadliest terrorist strike in decades — appeared highly planned to coincide with a staff meeting at Charlie Hebdo, known for provocative content on Islam, and left its well-known editor, Stéphane Charbonnier, and other staff members among the dead. Wednesday’s raid was “a terrorist attack without a doubt,” said French President François Hollande, who later declared Thursday as a national day of mourning.
“Journalists and police officers have been assassinated in cowardly fashion,” Hollande said after visiting the scene. “France is in a state of shock.”
The attack coincided with a staff meeting at the weekly Charlie Hebdo newspaper and left its well-known editor, Stéphane Charbonnier, and other prominent cartoonists among the dead.
[Read: What is Charlie Hebdo?][Read: What is Charlie Hebdo?]
Global condemnation poured in as France raised its security alarm to the highest level and mobilized teams on foot, by air and in vehicles seeking three masked assailants who carried out the attack, in which they shouted the Arabic call of “Allahu Akbar” (God is great) amid the gunfire, according to video posted by France’s state-run broadcaster. Edouard Perrin, a former writer for the newspaper who was in the office across the hall at the time of the attack, said he took cover when the shooting started and was among the first to enter after the killers fled.
At the sealed offices and nearby streets, forensic experts looked for DNA or other possible clues to aid in the rapidly expanding hunt. Others pored over security camera video and cellphone images posted online. “When we got inside, it was an absolute carnage, in the proper sense of the word,” he said.
Across Paris, meanwhile, security patrols were stepped up at media outlets, transportation hubs and other key sites. The attack also is likely to raise calls for tougher crackdowns on suspected extremists in a country that has faced decades of internal tensions over its rising Muslim population. In addition to the dead, he said, “there were survivors. We carried out CPR on them. I touched one person lying on the ground. The body had no pulse.”
As dusk fell, a somber vigil filled the Place de la Republique in solidarity with the victims. The crowd periodically broke out in rhythmic chants of “Charlie!” but was otherwise largely silent. Later, at the sealed offices and on nearby streets, forensic experts looked for DNA or other possible clues to aid in the rapidly expanding hunt. Others pored over security-camera video and cellphone images posted online.
The raid was “a terrorist attack without a doubt,” said French President Francois Hollande, who later declared Thursday as a national day of mourning. Across Paris, meanwhile, security patrols were stepped up at media outlets, transportation hubs and other key sites.
“Journalists and police officers have been assassinated in cowardly fashion,” Hollande said after visiting the scene. “France is in a state of shock after this terrorist attack.” The attack is likely to raise calls for tougher crackdowns on suspected extremists in a country that has faced decades of internal tensions over its Muslim population, which at 5 million is the largest in Europe.
Authorities had no immediate comment on possible suspects or motives. In recent years, France has thrust itself to center stage in the war against Islamist extremism. In 2013, French forces joined those loyal to Mali’s government to push back an onslaught by Islamist militants. France was also the first nation to join the U.S.-led effort against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, conducting bombing raids.
But French media quoted witnesses as saying the assailants yelled, “We have avenged the prophet” in apparent reference to cartoons in the newspaper depicting the prophet Muhammad. In just the past several weeks, France has been particularly on edge. Before Christmas, a man yelling “God is great” in Arabic was shot after stabbing three police officers in a suburb of Tours in central France.
Only hours before the attack, the newspaper’s Twitter account carried a cartoon entitled “Still No Attacks in France” showing Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi giving a New Year’s greeting. Also, 23 people were injured in Nantes and Dijon after men, in two separate incidents, drove vehicles into crowds. French officials deployed between 200 and 300 more military personnel on the streets last week, in addition to 780 already on the ground.
“Just wait,” a fighter says in the drawing. “We have until the end of January to present our New Year’s wishes.” But the mood in Paris on Wednesday was less angry and fearful than mournful and resolved.
The cover of the newspaper’s latest edition also notes the release of a lightning-rod book, “Submission,” a fictional account of France led by an Islamist party that imposes strict codes such as banning women from the workplace. Police patrolled the gates outside the book’s publisher, Flammarion. As dusk fell, a somber crowd of thousands of Parisians converged on the Place de la Republique to show solidarity with the attack’s victims. Many bore handmade signs with the words “Je suis Charlie” — “I am Charlie” — and mourners spelled out the words in votive candles. The crowd periodically broke out in rhythmic chants of “Charlie!” — but was otherwise largely silent.
On the newspaper’s Web site after the attack was a single message on a black background: “Je Suis Charlie” (I Am Charlie). It was also posted in other languages, including Arabic. “Charlie is exactly what France needs. They make us laugh and they make us think,” said Dominique Ragu, a cartographer who came to the rally with her daughter and father. “This was an attack on freedom of expression. It was an attack on humor.”
[See: How cartoonists reacted to the Charlie Hebdo massacre.][See: How cartoonists reacted to the Charlie Hebdo massacre.]
The attack appeared planned to target the newspaper’s most prominent figures. At the nearby offices of the leftist newspaper Liberation, the entrance was being guarded by police wielding assault rifles. Inside, staff members were mourning for lost friends but were also defiant.
One of the newspaper’s designers, Corinne Rey, said two hooded gunmen, speaking perfect French, forced her to type her passcode at the door. It was shortly before 11:30 a.m. — the time of the newspaper’s editorial meeting attended by key members of the staff. “We need to be like Charlie. We need to be strong. We need to be irreverent. We need to be impactful,” said Johan Hufnagel, the paper’s deputy editor. “If we change because of these guys, it will mean they will have won.”
“I had gone to pick up my daughter at day care. Two hooded gunmen arrived at the door of the building and brutally threatened us,” Rey told the French newspaper L’Humanite. The attack targeted the newspaper’s most prominent figures.
One of its designers, Corinne Rey, said two hooded gunmen, speaking perfect French, forced her to type her passcode at the door. It was shortly before 11:30 a.m. Paris time — the time of the newspaper’s editorial meeting attended by key members of the staff.
“I had gone to pick up my daughter at day care,” Rey told the French newspaper L’Humanite. “Two hooded gunmen arrived at the door of the building and brutally threatened us.”
Amateur footage broadcast on France 24 showed panicked employees of Charlie Hebdo scrambling onto the roof at the offices in the densely populated 11th arrondissement of Paris. Another video clip showed black-clad gunmen firing on a police officer on the sidewalk before escaping in a black car.Amateur footage broadcast on France 24 showed panicked employees of Charlie Hebdo scrambling onto the roof at the offices in the densely populated 11th arrondissement of Paris. Another video clip showed black-clad gunmen firing on a police officer on the sidewalk before escaping in a black car.
The assailants, according to French media accounts, later commandeered a vehicle at Porte de Pantin on the northeastern outskirts of Paris before fleeing to the suburbs.The assailants, according to French media accounts, later commandeered a vehicle at Porte de Pantin on the northeastern outskirts of Paris before fleeing to the suburbs.
“We heard a ‘boom boom,’” said a waiter at the nearby Le Poulailler restaurant who asked to remain anonymous. “We heard a ‘boom boom,’ ” said a waiter at the nearby restaurant Le Poulailler who asked to remain anonymous. He described seeing at least two gunmen firing weapons. “We went outside in the alley and saw them shooting at the cops,” he said. “At first we thought it was a movie.”
He described seeing at least two gunmen firing weapons. “We went outside in the alley and saw them shooting at the cops,” he said. “At first we thought it was a movie.”
Christophe Crepin, a police union spokesman, said the dead include 10 members of the newspaper staff, among them the 47-year-old Charbonnier, who was widely known by the pen name Charb.Christophe Crepin, a police union spokesman, said the dead include 10 members of the newspaper staff, among them the 47-year-old Charbonnier, who was widely known by the pen name Charb.
Other noted staff members killed included economic affairs columnist Bernard Maris, 68, and renowned cartoonist Jean Cabut, 76, widely known as Cabu. Other noted staff members killed included economic-affairs columnist Bernard Maris, 68, and renowned cartoonist Jean Cabut, 76, widely known as Cabu.
Two police officers also were killed, including one assigned as the editor’s bodyguard. The other, who arrived on the scene was shot in the head as he writhed wounded on the ground, Crepin said. Two police officers also were killed, including one assigned as the editor’s bodyguard. The other, who encountered the gunmen as they fled, was shot in the head as he writhed wounded on the ground, Crepin said.
At least 20 others were injured, including four listed in critical condition, police said. At least 20 other people were injured, including four listed in critical condition, police said.
“We killed Charlie Hebdo,” one of the assailants shouted, according to a video made from a nearby building and later broadcast on French television “We killed Charlie Hebdo,” one of the assailants shouted, according to a video made from a nearby building and later broadcast on French television.
“The murderers dared proclaim Charlie Hebdo is dead,” said Secretary of State John F. Kerry in Washington. “But make no mistake, they are wrong. Today, and tomorrow, in Paris, in France and across the world, the freedom of expression this magazine represented is not able to be killed by this kind of act of terror.” “The murderers dared proclaim Charlie Hebdo is dead,” U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry said n Washington. “But make no mistake, they are wrong. Today and tomorrow in Paris, in France and across the world, the freedom of expression this magazine represented is not able to be killed by this kind of act of terror.”
The irreverent Charlie Hebdo first appeared in 1969, then folded in 1981 and resumed publication in 1992 with staffers reunited from its previous incarnation. The name purportedly derives in part from Charlie Brown of the “Peanuts” cartoon strip. Hebdo is short for hebdomadaire, which means weekly.
In his end-of-year address last week, Hollande raised concerns about “rising, worrying threats” of terrorism and growing intolerance in France, which is home to Europe’s largest Muslim population.
Worry also has been mounting over the hundreds of French nationals who have gone to Syria and Iraq to join Islamist militants, including the Islamic State, a heavily armed offshoot of al-Qaeda that has taken over parts of both countries. In May, Mehdi Nemmouche, a 29-year-old French national, opened fire in a Jewish museum in Brussels, killing four people.
There was no immediate claim on responsibility for the Charlie Hebdo attack, but messages of praise appeared on Web sites and other online forums linked to Islamist militants, said the Washington-based SITE monitoring group, which tracks extremist posts.
The newspaper’s iconoclastic style frequently pushed the envelope. It was already under regular police guard after being targeted in the past. In November 2011, its offices were firebombed a day after publishing a caricature of the prophet Muhammad and ironically named him as its “editor in chief” for an upcoming issue.
The attack, however, did little to curb its appetite for Islamic satire. In 2012, the newspaper ignored calls for caution from high-ranking members of the French government and published more images of Muhammad. In one caricature, he was shown being pushed in a wheelchair by an Orthodox Jew in a reference to a hit French movie.
“This terrorist attack marks a black day in the history of France,” said a statement by the media freedom group Reporters Without Borders.
The last major terrorist attacks in France took place in 1995, when a string of bombings over several months were blamed on an Algerian rebel group. A total of eight people were killed in the attacks.
But there has been repeated violence linked to tensions between France’s secular traditions and its growing Muslim population, which claims it faces widespread discrimination.
Charlie Hebdo has lampooned a range of subjects, including popes, presidents, entertainers and others in addition to occasional pieces of serious journalism such as investigative stories. One cover depicted an Orthodox Jew kissing a Nazi soldier; another showed Pope Benedict XVI dancing with a member of the Swiss Guard.
But its flippant treatment of Islamic subjects brought the harshest response.
“Muhammad isn’t sacred to me,” Charbonnier, the editor, told the Associated Press in 2012. “I don’t blame Muslims for not laughing at our drawings. I live under French law. I don’t live under Quranic law.”
In Washington, President Obama denounced the “horrific” shooting and said U.S. officials were ready to provide any assistance to help “bring these terrorists to justice.”In Washington, President Obama denounced the “horrific” shooting and said U.S. officials were ready to provide any assistance to help “bring these terrorists to justice.”
British Prime Minister David Cameron called the attack “sickening,” and German Chancellor Angela Merkel denounced it as “vile.”British Prime Minister David Cameron called the attack “sickening,” and German Chancellor Angela Merkel denounced it as “vile.”
At the United Nations, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called it “a horrendous, unjustifiable and cold-blooded crime.” There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the Charlie Hebdo attack, but messages of praise appeared on Web sites and other online forums linked to Islamist militants, said the Washington-based Site monitoring group, which tracks extremist posts.
“It was also a direct assault on a cornerstone of democracy — on the media and freedom of expression,” he said. Charlie Hebdo’s iconoclastic style frequently pushed the envelope. The newspaper was already under regular police guard after being targeted in the past. In November 2011, its offices were firebombed a day after it published a caricature of the prophet Muhammad and ironically named him as its “editor in chief” for an upcoming issue.
The attack, however, did little to curb its appetite for Islamic satire. In 2012, the newspaper ignored calls for caution from high-ranking members of the French government and published more images of Muhammad. In one caricature, he was shown being pushed in a wheelchair by an Orthodox Jew in a reference to a hit French movie.
Images of Muhammad have sparked deadly violence and protests in the past. In 2005, a Danish newspaper published cartoons depicting the prophet, touching off months of unrest across the Islamic world.Images of Muhammad have sparked deadly violence and protests in the past. In 2005, a Danish newspaper published cartoons depicting the prophet, touching off months of unrest across the Islamic world.
Faiola reported from Berlin. Karla Adam in London and William Branigin, Brian Murphy, Katie Zezima and Carol Morello in Washington contributed to this report. “It’s a horrible thing that has happened today, and my fear is that this might promote self-censorship,” said Kurt Westergaard, the Danish cartoonist who penned the most incendiary of the 2005 caricatures of the prophet Mohammad. “These were good people, people who have been critical of anyone in power.”
Only hours before the attack, Charlie Hebdo’s Twitter account carried a cartoon titled “Still No Attacks in France” showing Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi giving a new year’s greeting.
“Just wait,” a fighter says in the drawing. “We have until the end of January to present our New Year’s wishes.”
Faiola reported from Berlin. Virgile Demoustier in Paris, Karla Adam in London, Souad Mekhennet in Frankfurt, Germany, and Brian Murphy, William Branigin, Katie Zezima and Carol Morello in Washington contributed to this report.
Read related stories to today’s attack:Read related stories to today’s attack:
- What is Charlie Hebdo?- What is Charlie Hebdo?
- How cartoonists around the world reacted- How cartoonists around the world reacted
- Assailants came prepared for the attack- Assailants came prepared for the attack
- Paris shows solidarity with #JeSuisCharlie- Paris shows solidarity with #JeSuisCharlie