The manhunt for the suspects in the Jan. 7 attack on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo came to an end Friday after a standoff at a print shop in northern France. Brothers Cherif Kouachi and Said Kouachi, who had been on the run after allegedly killing 12 people in Paris, had holed up in the offices of Creation Trend Discovery, a small signage and banner company. The two gunmen were killed in a firefight with police after they emerged from the building firing their weapons.
CNN reported that the pair took a man hostage but released him before the firefight. Said the news outlet:
A salesman, who identified himself only as Didier, told France Info radio that he shook one of the gunman’s hands at about 8:30 a.m. as they arrived at the business. Didier said he first thought the man, who was dressed in black and heavily armed, was a police officer.
As he left, the armed man said, “Go, we don’t kill civilians.” Didier said, “It wasn’t normal. I did not know what was going on.”
Another man, a worker at the print shop, was later found hiding inside the facility. According to NPR, French-language news outlet Itele said this man was “able to give [by text messages] tactical elements,” including the gunmen’s positions and movements.
The firefight was one of two in France on Friday. In the other, Amedy Coulibaly, alleged associate of the Kouachi brothers, took hostages at a Paris shop. According to UK news outlet The Independent, fifteen hostages were freed, but four were killed. Coulibaly was killed after running out of the shop.
