Twelve dead in shooting at satirical paper in Paris, terror alert raised
Posted January 7, 2015 11:50 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
PARIS (NEWS1130) – France’s president has urged the nation to stay united as it hunts gunmen who killed 12 people at the office of a satirical newspaper.
Speaking on national television Wednesday night about the slain journalists, Francois Hollande said, “They are today our heroes.”
Security forces are still looking for masked gunmen who shouted “Allahu akbar!” as they killed the people in the Paris offices of satirical newspaper “Charlie Hebdo.”
Hollande said France would hold a national day of mourning and fly flags at half-staff for three days.
France has seen a rise in religion-related tensions. Hollande told the French “Let us unite … and we will win.”
Survivors say the gunmen spoke flawless, unaccented French.
France has raised its security alert to the highest level, and President Francois Hollande is preparing to address the nation. Schools have closed across Paris, although thousands of people jammed Republique Square near the site of the shooting to honour the victims, holding up pens and papers reading “Je suis Charlie” — “I am Charlie.”
The caricatures of the Prophet Muhammed that appeared in the weekly publication have frequently drawn condemnation from Muslims, and its offices were firebombed in 2011.
There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which also left four people critically wounded, but an al-Qaida tweeter called the attack “inspiring.”
The attackers were carrying machine-guns as they forced one of the cartoonists arriving at the office building with her young daughter to open the door with a security code.
The staff was in an editorial meeting and the gunmen headed straight for the paper’s editor, Stephane Charbonnier, killing him and his police bodyguard first.
Minutes later, two men strolled out to a black car waiting below, calmly firing on a police officer, with one gunman shooting him in the head as he lay writhing on the sidewalk.
The video showed the killers moving deliberately and calmly with one even bending over to toss a fallen shoe back into the small black car before it sped off.
Police say the car was later found abandoned in northern Paris, and that the attackers switched to another vehicle that had been stolen.
World leaders ranging from US President Barack Obama to British Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are offering prayers and support for France.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also condemned the attack and pledged co-operation in fighting terrorism.
