3 Hostages Dead, Suspect Killed by Police: The Latest on the French Hostage Siege

A suspect has been killed after hostages were taken in a supermarket in a small town in the south of France Friday afternoon. The incident, which officials are treating as a terror attack, has been taken over by anti-terrorism officials and has left at least three hostages dead and about a dozen injured, officials said.

Here’s what we know so far.

What happened?

A man took hostages at the Super U, a French supermarket in the southern French town of Trebes, Friday afternoon. The suspect fired six shots at police officers earlier that morning as they were on their way back from jogging in Carcassonne, according to the Associated Press. An officer had a shoulder injury, which Yves Lefebvre, secretary general of the SGP Police-FO union, described as non-life-threatening.

Authorities said the suspect shot and killed three people and approximately a dozen are injured, the Associated Press reported. Previously, officials said at least one victim was still inside the supermarket seriously injured. The victim’s injury was described as life-threatening, according to a police union official.

Interior Minister Gerard Collomb identified the suspect as Redouane Lakdim, 26. He added that Lakdim was a “petty criminal and small-time drug dealer” who became radicalized and was under police surveillance.

Lefebvre also confirmed that the suspect was shot to death by police. Collomb said the suspect was killed after an hours long standoff, which involved the suspect asking that the only surviving assailant from the 2015 Paris attacked be released.

French prime minister Edouard Philippe said the hostage situation ‘seems to be a terrorist act,’ the AP reported. French President Emmanuel Macron said all evidence suggests the situation was a terror attack, making it the first since he took office in May, the AP reported. Macron, who is Macron earlier asked Collomb to visit the hostage site as well.

French law enforcement officials in Carcassonne said the suspect claimed to be part of the Islamic State, according to Le Monde.