Two masked men stormed the office of Charlie Hebdo Wednesday at around 11:30 a.m., killing 10 employees of the French satirical weekly that is known for its provocative content along with two police officers. Among those killed were the magazine’s editorial director, Stephane Charbonnier, and four of France’s most prominent cartoonists.
Wearing black hoods and armed with Kalashnikov rifles, Said Kouachi, 34, and his brother, Cherif Kouachi, 32, attacked the Paris office by first cornering one of the magazine’s cartoonists, Corrinne Rey, outside the building. Rey, who had her young daughter along with her, was forced to punch in her security code so the assailants could enter the building.
Once inside, the two brothers shot dead 10 of Rey’s colleagues in an attack that Rey says probably took about five minutes. During the deadly onslaught, the gunmen shouted, “Allahu akbar” (God is the greatest) and “We have killed Charlie Hebdo. We have avenged the Prophet Mohammed.”
The assailants got into a car after the attack and drove to Allee Verte, where they ran into two police patrols. In a subsequent exchange of gunfire with police officers at Boulevard Richard Lenoir, one police officer was shot dead. The gunmen then sped off but were forced to abandon their car after hitting a Volkswagen. They carjacked another vehicle and made their escape.
French police released names of the two attackers as well as a suspected accomplice, Hamyd Mourad. Mourad, 18, turned himself into police in the French town of Charleville-Mezieres, 145 miles northeast of Paris, at 11 p.m. on Wednesday. Mourad claims innocence, saying he was in school at the time of the attack, an alibi backed by his friends and schoolmates. He is currently being held in custody and has not been charged.
The manhunt for the Kouachi brothers led French police to an apartment in the city of Reims, a couple hours away from Paris by car. In a public statement, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazenueve said that seven people connected with the brothers were arrested overnight in Paris, as well as in Reims and Charleville-Mezieres. They are all in custody and are being interrogated.
French police continue their search for the brothers after the two were recognized early this morning at a petrol station 150 miles north of Paris in a stolen Renault Clio.
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