A 92-year-old priest has been butchered by two ‘Islamic’ knifemen who cut his throat after bursting into a French church and taking nuns and worshippers hostage before being shot dead by police.
The clergyman was knifed to death during the attack while another hostage is fighting for their life in hosptial. The two attackers have been ‘neutralised’ by elite marksmen in a dramatic police operation.
At least one of the men was dressed in Islamic clothing, according to French media reports, and an anti-terrorist unit has already taken up the investigation.
Footage from the scene shows emergency crews, including elite police squads, arriving at the Church of the Gambetta and one person being stretchered into an ambulance.
The clergyman, who has not yet been named, had his throat cut, said a spokesman for the Interior Ministry in Paris.
He said the two men rushed into the church via a back entrance during a morning service, soon after 9am.
The two men seized the priest, two sisters from a local order, and two parishioners, said the spokesman
‘A third nun escaped and raised the alarm, and anti-terrorists officers were on the scene within minutes,’ said a source who lives locally.
‘It appears that the priest who was celebrating the service was attacked first, and had his throat cut.
‘The area around the church was sealed off, and then armed officers appeared with their weapons. I heard at least a dozen shots.’
The siege officially ended at around 11am, following the shooting of the two attackers.
Units attending including the elite RAID, the anti-terrorist unit that was heavily involved in the Paris attacks last year, in which almost 150 people were murdered.
Anti-terrorist judges immediately opened an investigation in to today’s attack, as President Francois Hollande and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve attended the scene.
Shots were fired a few minutes later by BRI police and, according to local police sources, ‘both men have now been neutralised’.
The French Police Nationale gave no details about the situation but sent a Tweet urging media not to cross security tape at the scene or take pictures or video.
French President Francois Hollande and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve were on their way to the scene, their offices said.
Saint-Etienne du Rouvray has a population of 30,000 and is around seven miles from Rouen.
The incident comes as France is on high alert after a Bastille Day attack that killed 84 people in Nice and a series of deadly attacks last year claimed by ISIS.
