Two people, a man, and a pregnant woman were taken hostage in central Paris around 4 PM local time yesterday (12th June). Police managed to rescue the hostages before arresting the deranged man. His demands were to be put in touch with the Iranian Embassy to deliver a message to the French government, The Telegraph reports.
The Rue des Petites Ecuries in Paris was on lockdown whilst armed police approached the man. Anti-terrorist police surrounded the Mixicom computer store in Paris and numerous police cars were put in place to prevent the situation from escalating.
According to authorities, officers from a specialist unit arrived on the site in response to an "unstable person," CNN reports. The Guardian cited BFM TV as saying that authorities said the "27-year-old" is a man "with no known terrorist links who is unknown to the police and intelligence services."
Man claimed to be armed with explosives and a pistol
The situation lasted about four hours before officers went into the building to arrest the suspect. The man had claimed he was armed with explosives and a pistol. After being arrested, Nelson Toro on Twitter cited the French Interior Minister, Gérard Collomb as tweeting. "The individual has been arrested and the hostages are out of danger."
Police rescued two hostages and arrested a man at a small business in Paris on Tuesday after he demanded to be put in touch with the Iranian Embassy to deliver a message to the French government. The individual has been arrested and the hostages are out of danger #NuntiumNews pic.twitter.com/VRZlWv60Yj
— Nelson Toro (@Nelsonpuntocom) June 13, 2018
There have been no other details released about the hostage-taker.
His nationality is unknown, but his demands were said to have been so incoherent that the negotiator had some difficulty understanding the man. He has now been taken into custody after a relatively easy arrest.
Luckily, no one was hurt. The situation went out of control when the man rushed into a building in the 10th arrondissement, CNN noted, which is close to Eurostar train hub.
The man told people he was armed. He then got into a fight with another man and managed to wound him before the man ran away and raised the alarm.
Latest Paris attack one of many in France
France has had its share of attacks in recent years and many of them were terrorism-related. 7th January 2015, two brothers, armed with rifles and other weapons, forced their way into offices of the French weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo and killed 12 people.
The next day, 8th January, a lone gunman shot two people in the southern Paris suburb of Montrouge. The BBC covered the story at the time.
In November that same year, three heavily armed gunmen killed 90 people in the Bataclan concert hall. In August 2016, dozens of people were killed, including children, when a lorry ploughed into a large crowd in the town of Nice. They had gathered to watch a fireworks display to mark the Bastille Day Holiday.
