Four hostages were reportedly dead Friday after police raided a Paris kosher shop where a gunman suspected in an earlier shooting incident had holed up.
Sky News, Reuters, and French radio station France Info reported that at least four people taken hostage at the kosher shop were dead. It’s unclear whether those hostages were killed during the raid or already dead when the operation began.
BREAKING: Police officials: At least 4 dead, including gunman, in Paris kosher grocery hostage crisis.
— The Associated Press (@AP) January 9, 2015
That number is in dispute, however. The Associated Press and CNN reported that at least three people who were not the gunman were killed.
The AFP reported that four more were critically injured during the hostage situation.
Earlier reports suggested that five hostages were inside the shop, but a senior police official, Christophe Tirante, told the Washington Post that the number was actually much higher.
“At least 12 hostages are free and safe from the grocery store, but there were more hostages than initially thought,” he told the Post. “Now it’s not clear how many wounded there are inside the store.”
The gunman, identified as Amedy Coulibaly, was also reportedly killed in the raid.
“Four Hostages Reportedly Dead After Paris Police Raid”. I don’t mean to nitpick, but the title of this article makes it sound like the Paris police are responsible for the death of the four hostages. I think the blame lies with the hostages takers, and the title of the article should reflect that fact.
so now the islamist are randomly attacking jews in france. how long before they start up here. how long are we going to pretend under being polite and tolerant that there isnt something wrong with islam as a whole. how much longer will we pretend that in the back of our minds when we see an obvious person of muslim faith will we think of these killings and the randomness and how the new attack method is small attacks like this. i hate to even think it but the more this happens the more i move toward agreement with some of the right wingers that there is something wrong with this religion in particular, i think all religion is bunk but lately islam seems out of control, and we can admit and do something or just continue to see these attacks expand. i see no easy answer to any of this.
If there was something wrong with Islam, “as a whole”, then there would be millions more terrorists in the world. Your post suggest that the terrorists have an accurate interpretation of Islam, and that non-violent believers in the Islamic faith don’t understand their own religion. I am no more willing to accept that view of the Islamic faith than I am to accept that view of any other faith.
You are falling prey to the extremists’ tactics. Islam is not a religion of hatred or violence any more than Christianity. The problem are the folks who for various reasons (significantly including feelings of persecution and isolation, often exacerbated by underlying mental illness but not always) believe that their faith requires them to kill others. The aim of much of Islamic Terrorism (and, frankly, an alarmingly large portion of “Christian” extremists who cheer them on) is to create a religious war between Judeo-Christian people on the one side and Islam on the other side. These folks want all of Islam to be seen as on their side, because if we don’t include them in the “good guys” side they are more likely to end up disillusioned and feeling persecuted, and end up radicalized.
I am sorry you feel the way you do, but you need to understand that giving in to those primal fears and acting on them plays right into the hands of these terrorist killers. Don’t amplify the damage.
And when a fundamentalist Christian kills supposedly because of his faith, you say the same thing bout Christianity?