Four Hostages Are Reportedly Dead In France

On Friday, as Paris police struggled to corner the Charlie Hebdo suspects holed up in a printing warehouse with a hostage in tow, a second hostage situation unfolded in eastern Paris. A gunman reportedly took several hostages, including children, in a Jewish kosher supermarket, and later has been killed. The same gunman had allegedly shot and killed a female police officer on Thursday in a Paris suburb. Several outlets are reporting that four hostages are dead.

Paris police said the gunman has threatened to kill all of the hostages if police approach the two Charlie Hebdo suspects, making it clear that events are linked, an official told the Associated Press. Reuters reports that the three hostage-takers are all believed to be members of the same jihadist group. Ten years ago, all three men were sent to Iraq to fight the U.S. forces by their jihadist cell, and knew one another.

Amedy Coulibaly, the alleged gunman, and a woman named Hayet Boumddiene, an alleged accomplice, are suspected of taking at least five hostages. According to the Associated Press, a gunman opened fire at the supermarket Friday and declared "You know who I am," making an apparent reference to how Paris police had released a photo of him as a suspect in the killing of the police officer.

The female police officer killed Thursday was shot dead by a gunman wearing a bulletproof vest. France has appealed for information about the two suspects it believes was behind that attack.

Image: France Police Department