1 of 3 Paris Suspects Surrenders

7 arrests made as manhunt for Kouachi brothers continues
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 7, 2015 10:06 PM CST
Updated Jan 8, 2015 7:59 AM CST
1 of 3 Paris Suspects Surrenders
Thousands of people gather for a moment of silence to pay their respects to the victims of the deadly attack at the Paris office of French satirical newspaper "Charlie Hebdo," in Lyon, central France.   (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)

One of three suspects being hunted in the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack in Paris has turned himself in to authorities more than 100 miles away near the border with Belgium, authorities in France say. A police spokeswoman says Hamyd Mourad, 18, went to a police station, "introduced himself, and was put in custody," reports the New York Times. According to some reports, the suspect turned himself in after seeing his name appear in social media and has told investigators he was in school at the time of the attack that killed 12 people, including four beloved French cartoonists at the satirical newspaper. Some who say they're his classmates have been maintaining the same thing, tweeting under the hashtag #MouradHamydInnocent. In other developments:

  • A huge manhunt is underway for brothers Said Kouachi and Cherif Kouachi, who are believed to have links to a Yemeni terrorist network. Seven people connected to the suspects were arrested overnight in the Paris area and in the towns of Reims and Charleville-Mezieres, the BBC reports.

  • France's prime minister says the brothers were already known to intelligence services and "our main concern" is preventing them from carrying out another attack.
  • There have been unconfirmed reports that the brothers have been spotted on a highway in northern France, with weapons visible in the back of their vehicle, the Guardian reports.
  • Tens of thousands of Parisians joined vigils last night, and France has declared today a day of national mourning. A moment of silence was observed at noon.
  • In what a CNN affiliate describes as "their only mistake," an identification card belonging to one of the Kouachi brothers was found in a getaway car after the attack.
  • There are conflicting accounts on how the slaughter during a Charlie Hebdo editorial meeting unfolded. CNN reports that a doctor who treated survivors was told the killing wasn't random, but was a "precision execution" with the two masked attackers separating men from women, then reading out names of victims they wanted to kill. Others, however, including police sources and a writer who managed to sound the alarm, described the attack as complete carnage, with the gunmen trying to kill as many people as possible, the Guardian reports.
  • Le Monde has published one bloody image of the interior of the magazine's office. It reports by way of Charlie Hebdo's lawyer that the next edition will be issued Wednesday, with a million copies being printed. The typical weekly circulation is 45,000.
(More Paris stories.)

Get breaking news in your inbox.
What you need to know, as soon as we know it.
Sign up
Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X