The two brothers suspected of killing 12 people in the Charlie Hebdo attack are dead after an hours-long standoff with police near Charles de Gaulle Airport. Simultaneously, another gunman who took multiple hostages at a kosher market in eastern Paris was also killed in a police raid. Police are still searching for a fourth suspect.
The brothers wanted in the Charlie Hebdo attack, Chérif and Said Kouachi, were killed, but their hostage was freed at the printing house located near the airport.
French President Hollande confirmed that four hostages were killed.
Police linked Amedy Coulibaly, the gunman holding hostages at the kosher market, to Thursday’s shooting in which a policewoman was killed. Coulibaly also knew the Kouachi brothers and had reportedly demanded their release.
French police are seeking a fourth suspect, Hayat Boumeddiene.
From left to right: Chérif Kouachi and Said Kouachi, the two men suspected of killing 12 in the Charlie Hebdo attack. Amedy Coulibaly and Hayat Boumeddiene are named in connection with Thursday’s Montrouge shooting of a policewoman. Coulibaly held hostages in the Paris kosher market; it’s not known if Boumeddiene was there.
There were reports tonight that another gunman had escaped the scene
Coulibay is thought to have been working with his ‘armed and dangerous’ girlfriend Hayat Boumeddiene, whose whereabouts is unknown.
Gunfire and explosions had been heard at the first hostage siege after police had surrounded the gunmen at an industrial estate 25 miles from Paris.
The siege reached a bloody climax when the brothers reportedly ‘came out firing’ after a nine-hour stand-off.
They had earlier told police negotiators: ‘We are ready to die as martyrs’.
At around 4.30pm, people living nearby reported hearing three or four loud explosions followed by several gunshots.
More explosions followed and smoke could be seen rising from the building. Others reported seeing ambulances race to the scene.
A short time later three French special forces officers could be seen on the roof of the building.
Then, at around 5.30 pm, three large helicopters arrived at the scene and landed on the roof. The hostage was named as Michel Catalano.
His family were gathered at their detached home in the nearby village of Othis as the siege came to a dramatic end in Dammartin-en-Goele.
Police were last night stationed outside the property. One officer told MailOnline: ‘The family are all here. They have come to support Mrs Catalano. They are all gathered together but they are too upset to speak.’
Atlantis Farina, 17, who lives close to the scene was returning from high school shortly after 4pm when he heard explosions.
‘The ground here started shaking, that is what shocked me most,’ he said. ‘Then there was lots of what sounded like gunfire, it sounded like the suspects were firing back at the police.
‘There was smoke too – like they had thrown a grenade. I am so glad it is over, it bought panic to the area. My mum was very worried, and I was quite scared too.’
Philippe Lapotre, 63, was at his home across a field from the factory when he heard the explosions followed by gun fire and came out to see.
‘My friends and family have been calling me all day to see if I was ok,’ he said. ‘When I came out, three huge Puma helicopters came over.’
Carole and Thierry Charpentier were at home when the siege ended. ‘We have been at home, just watching the television all day,’ said Mrs Charpentier.
‘We are so very relieved it is over, and are glad the police have got the suspects and the hostage is free.
‘We would like the thank and praise the police and the special forces. But we are angry too, that this had happened. We are angry at what horrible things they have done’.
In Paris, police say Coulibaly, 32, was using the hostages as a bargaining chip to try to scupper the police response further north.
He was said to be working with a woman called Hayat Boumeddiene, 26, considered ‘armed and dangerous’, and is said to have yelled at police: ‘You know who I am’ when they responded to the shooting.
MailOnline understands that police had earlier scrambled phone signals in the area after the gunmen contacted Coulibay while inside the building.
Revelations that a call was made by the Kouachis suggests they may have instructed Coulibay to carry out today’s atrocity to leverage their escape.
There were reports of another alert near the Eiffel Tower, with police seen training their guns down the stairs of a Metro station, but it was a false alarm.
Local media reports that the brothers met Coulibay while in prison.
He is believed to be a fellow member of the Buttes Chaumont – a gang from the 19th arrondissement of Paris that sent jihadists to fight in Iraq.
The Kouachis were cornered in Dammartin-en-Goele, around 25 miles from the capital, this morning after leading police on a dramatic car chase.
After exchanging gunfire with officers, they fled on foot into printing works where they are holding a hostage, believed to be a 26-year-old male.
A salesman called Didier later told how he was supposed to meet a client called Michel at the print works, but was instead met by one of the gunmen.
He said he shook hands with the militant because he had identified himself as a police officer and was carrying a Kalashnikov rifle.
He said: ‘When I arrived, my client came out with an armed man who said he was from the police.
‘My client told me to leave so I left,’ Didier said, identifying the man he was to meet with as Michel.’
He said the black-clad man who was wearing a bullet-proof vest told him: ‘Leave, we don’t kill civilians anyhow’.
‘That really struck me,’ Didier added. ‘So I decided to call the police. I guess it was one of the terrorists.
‘It could have been a policeman if he hadn’t told me “we don’t kill civilians”. They were heavily armed like elite police.’
‘I didn’t know it was a hostage situation, or a robbery. I just knew something wasn’t quite right. I think I am going to go and see my colleagues and play the lottery because I was very lucky this morning.’
Meanwhile, a worker in a nearby building told how he barricaded the doors as the hostage crisis unfolded.
He said: ‘None of us feel safe. We can hear the helicopters. It is terrifying.’
One of the pupils inside the Dammartin-en-Goele school said by phone from inside: ‘We’re scared. We’ve called our parents to make sure they’re OK.
‘We’ve been told we have to stay inside. All the lights have been switched off.’