Gunman killed in France after taking hostages, killing three in apparent terrorist attack

 ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – A suspect was killed by police in southwestern France after holding up a car and fatally shooting two hostages in a supermarket standoff on Friday.

Eric Menassi, the mayor of Trèbes, the small town where the incident occurred, told a local radio station that the hostage-taker had called out “Allahu Akbar” and "I'll kill you all" upon entering the market, and had claimed allegiance to the Islamic State (IS). Menassi added that the attacker had demanded the release of Salah Abdeslam, a jailed suspect in the 2015 Paris attacks that killed 130 and wounded scores more.

"The hostage-taker is dead," a police official told reporters, explaining that he'd been overtaken in a raid after a 45-year-old police officer had traded himself for the last civilian hostage. Two officers were wounded in the raid.

An Interior Ministry source said that one person had been killed by the suspect in a car-jacking before two hostages in the market were shot to death. There are unconfirmed reports of an earlier additional death in a nearby town.

Of the casualty count, the source added, "It is a provisional assessment as it could, unfortunately, get worse," leaving open the possibility that the death toll would rise. "Three people are wounded, including one of them seriously."

In a statement to the press, French President Emmanuel Macron said the attack appeared to be an act of terrorism.

A man in the supermarket when the attack began told local media he hid in a walk-in refrigerator room with others for about an hour before escaping out the back door, unnoticed.

French investigators stated that they believe they know the identity the hostage-taker. They have not yet released a name but would share only that the man is known to French intelligence services and had been flagged in a database of radicalized Islamist militants.

Nearly 250 people have been killed on French soil since 2015 by attackers who had pledged allegiance to IS or say they were inspired by the jihadist group.