Two brothers suspected of gunning down 12 people at the Paris offices of satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo said Friday that they were “ready to die as martyrs” as police laid siege to the town where they holed up with a hostage they had taken.
Police surrounded a printing business in Dammartin-en-Goele, which lies northeast of Paris near Charles de Gualle airport. Le Figaro posted a photo of the printing business, Création Tendance Découverte, where suspects Cherif and Said Kouachi are holed up:
La prise d’otage aurait lieu dans l’entreprise Création Tendance Découverte #CharlieHebdo http://t.co/lGFj3d5XJB pic.twitter.com/oOX8nr9SSp
— Le Figaro (@Le_Figaro) January 9, 2015
The suspects had one hostage with them in the building, according to Paris police spokesman Xavier Castaing and town spokeswoman Audrey Taupenas. A police official at the scene also confirmed to the Associated Press that there was one hostage.
Before traveling to Dammartin-en-Goele, the Kouachi brothers had hijacked another car and apparently were involved in a shootout at a roadblock. Some media had reported that there were injuries and a fatality resulting from the clash, but French authorities denied those reports, according to The Guardian.
A salesman, identified only as Didier, told France Info radio that he unwittingly shook hands with one of the Charlie Hebdo suspects when he arrived at the printing business, where had a scheduled appointment with the owner.
The salesman told the radio station that he mistook the suspect, who he said was dressed in black combat gear and armed with at least one rifle, as a police officer, according to the Guardian.
“We all shook hands and my client told me to leave,” he said, as quoted by the Guardian. He told France Info that the man he thought was a police officer said “Go, we don’t kill civilians,” adding “I thought was strange.”
There are conflicting reports about whether the suspects are in contact with or already negotiating with police.
A local member of Parliament who said he was inside the police command post, Yves Albarello, told French TV chanell i-Tele that the Kouachi brothers told police “they want to die as martyrs,” according to the AP.
This post has been updated.
