France : Supermarket hostage-taker who killed three is believed to be Moroccan

An armed supermarket hostage-taker was shot dead by the police in Trebes, Friday, after killing three people and injuring three others, reports Le Parisien. The gunman, who was identified by the French authorities as Redouane Lakdim, started his attack by killing a driver and opening fire on policemen in Carcassonne, a hilltop town in southern France’s Languedoc area.

After helding up a car and killing its driver, the gunman injured a policeman. The 25-year-old assailant drove teh stolen car to «Super U» and took several people in hostage inside the building, as reported by French media this morning.

In the supermarket, the hostage-taker killed two other people, shouting Allahu Akbar and demanding the release of Salah Abdeslam, a Belgian-Moroccan terrorist who is currently tried in France. Hostages managed to flee the supermarket where the police entered and shot the gunman.

A prosecutor indicated the morning that the suspect was known to the French services and that he claimed to be an «Islamic State»’s fighter. Commenting on the attack, Prime Minister Édouard Philippe said that the situation is «serious», adding that it is «a terrorist attack».

Indeed, BFMTV indicated that the terrorist organization (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the terror attack through its propaganda website Amak.

Meanwhile, French president Emmanuel Macron stated that «All indications suggest that it is a terrorist attack,» assuring that «the government remains fully mobilized.»

The gunman is believed to be a Moroccan-French national who was suspected of having traveled to Syria, said Le Parisien. The hostage-taker lived with his parents and sisters in an apartment in Carcassonne that was raided by the police this morning.

Speaking to Le Parisien, a neighbor explained that the suspect was seen on Friday morning accompanying his little sister to school. Another neighbor, who knows the family very well, describes this suspect as someone who is «calm» and «nice». The same person also explained that the young man regularly attended the mosque.