Two killed in second hostage situation at kosher supermarket in Paris
January 9, 2014
The Jerusalem Post
http://www.jpost.com/International/Second-hostage-taking-at-Paris-kosher-supermarket-387225

PARIS - Several people were taken hostage at a kosher supermarket in eastern Paris on Friday after a shootout involving a man armed with two guns, a police source said. 

One person was seriously wounded in the hostage-taking incident, a police union source said. The interior ministry denied press reports that two people had been killed. Police sources said one person was injured after being shot. 

There were unconfirmed local media reports that the man was the same as the one suspected of killing a policewoman in a southern suburb of Paris on Thursday.

A police source had told Reuters earlier he was a member of the same jihadist group as the two suspects in Wednesday's attack at weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo.

The exact number of hostages was unclear. Local media spoke of at least five. The police source said the man was equipped with automatic weapons.

Police immediately cordoned off the area and a helicopter was flying overhead. Local media said Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve was rushing to the scene.

 
The event comes as French anti-terrorist forces surround a building where they believe two men suspected of attacking the Charlie Hebdo satirical weekly are holed up, wanting to start a dialog, according to a French interior ministry spokesman said.

Police have not yet launched an assault. The priority is to establish a dialog, Pierre-Henry Brandet said in a message tweeted by the interior ministry.

This can take a long time, hours and sometimes days, he added