Teenage suspect ‘arrested after handing himself into police’ over Paris magazine massacre that left 12 dead – as anti-terror unit raids building in hunt for two brothers ‘trained in Yemen as assassins’

  • One suspect killed and two others in custody, US counter-terrorism officials claim, but this has not been confirmed
  • Masked gunmen storm Paris headquarters with AK-47s shouting ‘Allahu akbar!’ and ‘the Prophet has been avenged’
  • Stalked building asking for people’s names before killing the editor, three cartoonists and the deputy chief editor
  • Editor Stephane Charbonnier had famously shrugged off threats, saying: ‘I’d rather die standing than live kneeling’
  • Horrific footage shows a police officer begging for his life before being shot in the head at point-blank range
  • Cartoonist Corrine Rey told how she cowered with her young daughter as she watched two colleagues gunned down
  • Killers fled in stolen car across eastern Paris after a ‘mass shoot-out’ with police officers and remain on the loose  
  • Militants believed to be from Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula which was behind plane bomb plots in US and UK
  • Three suspects said to be all French citizens – a homeless teenage man aged 18, and two brothers aged 32 and 34
  • Newspaper had earlier posted a picture of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on its Twitter account
  • Publication’s offices were firebombed in 2011 for publishing satirical cartoon of Prophet Mohammed
  • White House had previously criticised Charlie Hebdo in 2012 for publishing its religiously sensitive cartoons

Two brothers and a teenager were last night revealed as the three suspects linked to a deadly terrorist attack on an anti-Islamist newspaper in France.

Said Kouachi, 34, and Cherif Kouachi, 32, both from Paris, were identified along with Hamyd Mourad, 18, from the north-eastern city of Reims.

Mourad surrendered to police ‘after seeing his name on social media’ and was arrested at an undisclosed location, a source close to the case said.

It appeared last night that the hunt for the other men had turned to the Croix Rouge region of Reims, some two hours by car from Paris.

Dozens of members from France’s elite anti-terror unit surrounded an apartment building and there were reports a flat had been searched.

Cherif Kouachi

Said Kouachi

Response: Police are seen during an operation in the Croix-Rouge suburb of Reims, northern France, early this morning following the attacks

Police officers stand guard outside a building in Reims while forensics look for evidence relating to the three suspects of the Paris attack

Forensic police officers look for evidence

Forensic police officers look for evidence relating to the three suspects in an apartment located in the Croix Rouge neigborhood in Reims, France

Live television pictures showed police Swat teams holding positions around the building, with onlookers taking photographs.

Either the suspects will be able to escape, or ‘there will be a showdown’, said a member of the unit, urging journalists at the scene to remain ‘vigilant’.

Some 100,000 people gathered across France last night to back the publication, Charlie Hebdo, as a huge manhunt was launched to find the attackers.

The suspected Al Qaeda militants massacred 12 people in Paris yesterday, and among those slaughtered was a police officer as he begged for mercy.

One of the dead officers was named yesterday as Ahmed Merabet, who is believed to have been a Muslim.

Last night, thousands of people went to Republique Square near the scene to honour the victims, holding signs reading ‘Je suis Charlie’ – ‘I am Charlie’.

The three suspects were last night said by Metronews to be all French citizens – with Mourad reported to be homeless.

'Massacre': The gunmen are seen brandishing Kalashnikovs as they move in on the injured police officer from their vehicle outside the office

Gunned down in cold blood: Horrific footage shows the injured police officer slumped on the pavement as two of the gunmen approach. In a desperate plea for his life, the officer slowly raises his hand towards one of the attackers, who callously shoots him at point-blank range

Brutal execution: A police officer pleads for mercy on the pavement in Paris before being shot in the head by masked gunmen during an attack on the headquarters of the French satirical publication Charlie Hebdo, a notoriously anti-Islamic publication

Running away: Gunmen shoot dead a wounded police officer on the ground at point-blank range as they flee the offices of Charlie Hebdo

Vigil: People gather around candles and pens at the Place de la Republique in Paris in support of the victims after the terrorist attack

Vigil: People gather around candles and pens at the Place de la Republique in Paris in support of the victims after the terrorist attack

There were disputed claims that the three men had been arrested 100 miles away in Reims, following a report by Libération. This could not be verified.

Cherif Kouachi was convicted in 2008 of terrorism charges for helping funnel fighters to Iraq’s insurgency and sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Two senior US counter-terrorism officials told NBC News that one suspect was killed and the others in custody – but this could also not be confirmed.

A government official told Reuters there had been no arrests, and it appeared early this morning that police were still hunting for the three men.

Clad all in black with hoods and speaking French, the militants forced one of the cartoonists – at the office with her young daughter – to open the door.

Witnesses said the gunmen shouted ‘we are from the Al Qaeda in Yemen’, and ‘Allahu akbar!’ – Arabic for ‘God is great’ – as they stalked the building.

They were also said to have yelled ‘the Prophet has been avenged’, during what was France’s deadliest post-war terrorist attack.

The attackers headed straight for the paper’s editor and cartoonist, Stephane Charbonnier, killing him and his police bodyguard.

Standing together: People hold up pens and posters reading 'I am Charlie' in French as they take part in a vigil in Trafalgar Square, London

People gather near candles lit to commemorate the victims of the deadly attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices, in Lyon, central France

A year later, Mr Charbonnier famously dismissed threats against his life, declaring: ‘I would rather die standing than live kneeling.’

The militants also killed three other renowned cartoonists – men who had regularly satirised Islam – and the newspaper’s deputy chief editor.

Despite a shoot-out with armed officers, the gunmen escaped in a hijacked car and remained on the loose yesterday evening.

This left the French capital in virtual lockdown as police and soldiers flooded the streets to join the search.

President Barack Obama offered US help in pursuing the gunmen, saying they had attacked freedom of expression.

But it also emerged that the White House had previously criticised Charlie Hebdo in 2012 over its Prophet Mohammed cartoon.

At the time it had said that the images would be ‘deeply offensive to many and have the potential to be inflammatory’.

Emergency: Police officers and firefighters gather in front of the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris yesterday after gunmen stormed the building

Critical: Firefighters carry an injured man on a stretcher in front of the offices of French satirical paper Charlie Hebdo after the shooting

Faces of the victims: Among the journalists killed were (l to r) Charlie Hebdo's deputy chief editor  Bernard Maris and cartoonists Georges Wolinski, Jean Cabut, aka Cabu, Stephane Charbonnier, who is also editor-in-chief, and Bernard Verlhac, also known as Tignous

Faces of the victims: Among the journalists killed were (l to r) Charlie Hebdo’s deputy chief editor Bernard Maris and cartoonists Georges Wolinski, Jean Cabut, aka Cabu, Stephane Charbonnier, who is also editor-in-chief, and Bernard Verlhac, also known as Tignous

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