Two suspects in French magazine massacre are now dead, along with five others
A massive manhunt for two suspects in a shooting massacre earlier this week in the offices of a satirical magazine in Paris, France, has ended in their deaths, as well as the deaths of others, in related incidents that comprise the worst terrorism spree the country has seen in decades.
Authorities said brothers Said Kouachi, 34, and Cherif Kouachi, 32, holed up in a printing plant outside Paris at about 9:30 a.m. on Friday, local time, and were killed in a shootout around 5 p.m. when law enforcement stormed the facility, according to the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.).
A man trapped inside the building, unbeknownst to the brothers, may have aided their capture by sending police texts about the situation, the newspaper says. The brothers were accused, along with a third person who earlier gave himself up to police, of taking part in the Wednesday rampage that killed a dozen people in and around the Charlie Hebdo magazine offices.
Meanwhile, a police raid took place more or less at the same time Friday in a kosher grocery store in Paris. Hostages were taken there earlier in the day, in an apparent effort to divert attention from the Kouachi brothers and help them try to escape, reports the Associated Press. A hostage-taker died at the market and four hostages also are dead; exactly what happened is still being investigated.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Manhunt for French magazine massacre suspects aided by new law expanding social-media surveillance”
The Telegraph: “Inside Charlie Hebdo attack: ‘We all thought it was a joke’”
See also:
ABC News: “Former Al Qaeda Spy: Charlie Hebdo Gunmen Likely ‘Sleeper Cell’”
CNN: “In wake of Charlie Hebdo massacre, who were suspects in two hostage standoffs?”
USA Today: “French terror suspect linked to al-Qaeda in Yemen”
