Terrorist gunmen kill 12 after storming satirical newspaper office in Paris

Three masked gunmen stormed the Paris offices of a satirical newspaper Wednesday, killing 12 people before escaping. It was France’s deadliest terror attack in at least two decades. French President Francois Hollande called the attack on the Charlie Hebdo weekly, which has frequently drawn condemnation from Muslims, “a terrorist attack without a doubt” and said several other attacks have been thwarted in France “in recent weeks”. France raised its security alert to the highest level and reinforced security at houses of worship, media offices and on public transport. A witness who works nearby, Benoit Bringer, told the iTele network he saw multiple masked men armed with automatic weapons at the newspaper’s office in central Paris.

An act of exceptional barbarism has just been committed here in Paris against a newspaper, meaning [against] the expression of liberty.

French President Francois Hollande

The attackers fired indiscriminately in the newsroom, where staff were gathered for an editorial meeting. Paris prosecutor’s spokeswoman Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre confirmed that 12 people were killed in the attack, including the magazine’s editor-in-chief, Stéphane Charbonnier, 47, and three cartoonists. Luc Poignant, an official of the SBP police union, said the attackers left in a waiting car and later switched to another vehicle that had been stolen. The extremist Islamic State group has threatened to attack France and minutes before the attack Charlie Hebdo had tweeted a satirical cartoon of that extremist group’s leader giving New Year’s wishes. The cartoon entitled “Still No Attacks in France” had a caricature of an extremist fighter saying “Just wait — we have until the end of January to present our New Year’s wishes.”

World Charlie Hebdo