“I set off running and I stopped the first auto I saw”.
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Police SWAT teams arrived and tried to negotiate with the captors.
“The police attempted to enter the church but were not able to do so because three hostages were being used as a barrier by the doors”.
The motivations for the hostage-taking were not yet clear, but the Paris prosecutor’s office said the case was being handled by anti-terrorism prosecutors. French police shot dead the two terrorists as the men left the church. “And that’s when the tragedy happened”, said the nun, identified as Sister Danielle, according to BFM television.
He then tried to get to the war-ravaged country again by making his way through Switzerland before being detained. The Paris prosecutor appealed against this decision to release him but it was confirmed by an appeal court.
France remains on high alert following a mass killing in Nice on Bastille Day.
The slaying of Father Hamel also raised questions about the vulnerability of places of worship because the church where the attack took place had been identified as a potential Isil target.
Born in the Rouen area, Father Hamel was ordained in 1958 and was assistant priest in the parish of St Etienne. Three other people were injured, one very seriously.
“We offer our condolences to the family and friends of the murdered priest”.
On social media, the “je suis pretre” (‘I am priest’) hashtag began spreading.
Pope Francis decried the “pain and horror of this absurd violence”. Roberto Maroni, president of the Lombard region, said Fr Hamel was a “martyr of faith”.
In a televised address to the nation Tuesday, he denounced the attack, adding that “to attack a church, kill a priest, is to profane the republic”.
In April 2015, an Algerian student who was arrested after shooting himself in the leg was found with heavy weapons, bulletproof vests and documents linked to ISIS.
“The president needs to ensure that Americans are safe and that such attacks against Christians will not happen in the USA”, said Rep. Vern Buchanan, Florida Republican.
Hostages were taken and an 84-year-old priest was killed while saying mass.
Islamic State extremists have urged followers to attack French churches and the group is believed to have planned at least one church attack earlier. “We have to win that war”. “We are at war with radical Islam and ISIS terrorists”. He also praised the police for their quick response, which he said saved lives.
It was the first known attack inside a French church in recent times.
Other religious leaders were quick to condemn the violence, with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, tweeting: “Evil attacks the weakest, denies truth (and) love, is defeated through Jesus Christ”.
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A source close to the investigation said one of the attackers had been charged with terror links and held before being freed on bail. “We will stand together”.
