The kosher supermarket in eastern Paris where four people were killed in a January attack reopened Sunday under heavy security.
The store, one of 13 in the Hyper Cacher chain, was closed since Jan. 9 and had become a site of tributes and mourning after three days of terror rocked the French capital, The Wall Street Journal reports. French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve was the first customer, saying, “I came here to say the French Republic is doing everything so that all French people are protected from the threat of terrorism and so that we can live in our country freely.”
Masses Mourn Paris Terror Victims in France and Israel
Police officers carry the flag-draped coffins of three police officers killed in the recent terror attacks during a ceremony to posthumously decorate them with the Légion d’Honneur at the Invalides in Paris, France, on Jan. 13, 2015.Patrick Kovarik—AFP/Getty ImagesPolice Officers line up at the funeral of murdered police officer Ahmed Merabet during the burial at a Muslim cemetery in Bobigny, France, on Jan. 13, 2015. Dan Kitwood—Getty ImagesThe funeral of murdered police officer Ahmed Merabet takes place at a Muslim cemetery in Bobigny, France, on Jan. 13, 2015. Dan Kitwood—Getty ImagesPolice officers participate in the burial of murdered police officer Ahmed Merabet at a Muslim cemetery in Bobigny, France, on Jan. 13, 2015. Dan Kitwood—Getty ImagesA female mourner reacts during the funeral of murdered police officer Ahmed Merabet at a Muslim cemetery in Bobigny, France, on Jan. 13, 2015. Christopher Furlong—Getty ImagesFamily members of police officer Ahmed Merabet hold his cap and his Légion d’Honneur decoration during his funeral at a Muslim cemetery in Bobigny, France, on Jan. 13, 2015. Dan Kitwood—Getty ImagesFamily and relatives of Yoav Hattab, a Jewish victim of the attack on a kosher grocery store in Paris, gather around a symbolic coffin for his funeral procession in Bnei Brak, near Tel Aviv, Israel, on Jan. 13, 2015. Oded Balilty—APAn ultra-Orthodox man prays at the funeral of four Jews, who were killed in a terrorist attack on a kosher supermarket in Paris last week, at a cemetery in Jerusalem on Jan. 13, 2015. Gali Tibbon—AFP/Getty ImagesCrowds mourn the four Jews killed in the Paris kosher supermarket attack during a funeral in Jerusalem on Jan. 13, 2015.Abir Sultan—EPAThe body of a victim of last week's terror attacks in France is carried ahead of burial at a cemetery in Jerusalem on Jan. 13, 2015.Menahem Kahana—AFP/Getty ImagesMourners react during the funeral of four Jews, who were killed in last week's attack on a kosher supermarket in Paris, while attending the service in Jerusalem on Jan. 13, 2015.Jack Guez—AFP/Getty ImagesAn ultra-Orthodox Jewish man walks in a cemetery during the funeral of four French Jewish victims of the attack last week on a kosher grocery store in Paris, in Jerusalem, Jan. 13, 2015. Sebastian Scheiner—AP
Authorities said gunman Amedy Coulibaly stormed the shop, leaving four victims dead, one day after killing a policewoman. The attack came two days after brothers Chérif and Said Kouachi killed 12 people at the office of satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo. Two separate raids left all three attackers dead.
“We wanted to reopen quickly and to show we are not defeated and not afraid,” said Laurent Mimoun, one of Hyper Cacher’s owners, adding that all staffers who were working during the attack are still on leave. “It was important for the victims’ relatives and the people in the neighborhood.”