A screengrab from BBC coverage outside the grocery store
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Loud explosions and reports of gunfire have been heard outside the Jewish grocery shop in a violent conclusion to the second Paris siege, amid reports the gunman is dead.
The armed gunman, suspected to be the same assailant who who killed a French policewoman on Thursday, has been killed during final moments of the siege, French authorities confirm. French security police used the CCTV inside the store to help them.
An unknown number of hostages, thought to be around five, including children, were being held in Kosher grocery Hyper Cacher off from at Rue Albert Willemetz, a side street off the main Porte de Vincennes boulevard.
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The status of these hostages following the explosions and end of the siege remains unclear, although witnesses report seeing ambulances on standby near the scene and images are emerging of groups of the hostages fleeing from the building.
Conflicting reports from Reuters claim that as many as four hostages have died in the conclusion of the siege - none of these are confirmed.
Immediately following the apparent end of the siege, Le Monde has reported that the gunman, thought to be 32-year-old Amedy Coulibaly, has been killed. He reportedly threatened to kill the hostages if police storm the building with the Kouachi brothers inside. The two suspects are also reported to have been killed in the violent conclusion of the siege.
26-year-old Hayat Boumeddiene and 32-year-old Amedy Coulibaly
The man, who was reportedly armed with two Kalashnikov rifles, is said to have told police officers: "You know who I am."
Unconfirmed reports claim that two people may have been killed by the gunman, with witnesses claiming that the shooting lasted 20 seconds.
An eyewitness to the Vincennes hostage-taking told Europe 1 radio: “People were buying things when a man came in with a rifle and started shooting in all directions. I ran out. The shooting continued for several seconds.”
Earlier Radio Europe 1 claimed a daughter had received a call from her mother, telling her: "I am in the shop, I love you."
The background of the four individuals named by police has come under increasing scrutiny as details slowly emerge.
In pictures: Kosher grocery attack in Paris
Show all 25
In pictures: Kosher grocery attack in Paris
1/25 Kosher grocery attack
Members of the French police special forces evacuate the hostages after launching the assault at a kosher grocery store in Porte de Vincennes, eastern Paris
2/25 Kosher grocery attack
Members of the French police special forces evacuate the hostages after launching the assault at a kosher grocery store in Porte de Vincennes, eastern Paris
3/25 Kosher grocery attack
A security officer directs released hostages after they stormed a kosher market to end a hostage situation
4/25 Kosher grocery attack
Members of the French police special forces evacuate the hostages including a child (C) after launching the assault at a kosher grocery store in Porte de Vincennes, eastern Paris
5/25 Kosher grocery attack
A general view of members of the French police special forces launching the assault at a kosher grocery store in Porte de Vincennes, eastern Paris
6/25 Kosher grocery attack
French police forcibly stop young people on a scooter as they arrive near the scene of a hostage taking at a kosher supermarket in eastern Paris
7/25 Kosher grocery attack
French police forcibly stop at gun point young people on a scooter as they arrive near the scene of a hostage taking at a kosher supermarket in eastern Paris
8/25 Kosher grocery attack
French police special forces evacuate local residents in Saint-Mande, near Porte de Vincennes, eastern Paris
9/25 Kosher grocery attack
People are led away from the scene as Police mobilize with reports of a hostage situation at Port de Vincennes in Paris
10/25 Kosher grocery attack
People are led away from the scene as Police mobilize with reports of a hostage situation at Port de Vincennes in Paris
11/25 Kosher grocery attack
Police are mobilized (L) with reports of a hostage situation at Port de Vincennes in Paris
12/25 Kosher grocery attack
Police are mobilized with reports of a hostage situation at Port de Vincennes in Paris
13/25 Kosher grocery attack
Police mobilize with reports of a hostage situation at Port de Vincennes in Paris
14/25 Kosher grocery attack
Members of the French police special force advance with their equipment near the scene of a hostage taking at a kosher supermarket in eastern Paris
15/25 Kosher grocery attack
Police gather with reports of a hostage situation at Port de Vincennes in Paris
16/25 Kosher grocery attack
Police officers gather on the closed ring road that circles Paris near a hostage-taking situation at a kosher market i
17/25 Kosher grocery attack
Emergency services workers arrive at a hostage-taking situation at a kosher market in Paris
18/25 Kosher grocery attack
Members of the French police special force RAID take position in Saint-Mande, near Porte de Vincennes
19/25 Kosher grocery attack
Police arrive with guns at Port de Vincennes in Paris
20/25 Kosher grocery attack
Police arrive with guns at Port de Vincennes in Paris
21/25 Kosher grocery attack
Police mobilize with reports of a hostage situation at Port de Vincennes
22/25 Kosher grocery attack
Hooded police officers cross the closed ring road that circles Paris near a hostage-taking situation at a kosher market in Paris
23/25 Kosher grocery attack
Police forces arrive at the scene where suspected armed man has taken hostages in kosher grocery in Paris
@Fiaxhs
24/25 Kosher grocery attack
A general view of the scene of a hostages taking at a kosher supermarket in eastern Paris
@Fiaxhs
25/25 Kosher grocery attack
A general view of the scene of a hostages taking at a kosher supermarket (seen in rear) in eastern Paris
@Fiaxhs
1/25 Kosher grocery attack
Members of the French police special forces evacuate the hostages after launching the assault at a kosher grocery store in Porte de Vincennes, eastern Paris
2/25 Kosher grocery attack
Members of the French police special forces evacuate the hostages after launching the assault at a kosher grocery store in Porte de Vincennes, eastern Paris
3/25 Kosher grocery attack
A security officer directs released hostages after they stormed a kosher market to end a hostage situation
4/25 Kosher grocery attack
Members of the French police special forces evacuate the hostages including a child (C) after launching the assault at a kosher grocery store in Porte de Vincennes, eastern Paris
5/25 Kosher grocery attack
A general view of members of the French police special forces launching the assault at a kosher grocery store in Porte de Vincennes, eastern Paris
6/25 Kosher grocery attack
French police forcibly stop young people on a scooter as they arrive near the scene of a hostage taking at a kosher supermarket in eastern Paris
7/25 Kosher grocery attack
French police forcibly stop at gun point young people on a scooter as they arrive near the scene of a hostage taking at a kosher supermarket in eastern Paris
8/25 Kosher grocery attack
French police special forces evacuate local residents in Saint-Mande, near Porte de Vincennes, eastern Paris
9/25 Kosher grocery attack
People are led away from the scene as Police mobilize with reports of a hostage situation at Port de Vincennes in Paris
10/25 Kosher grocery attack
People are led away from the scene as Police mobilize with reports of a hostage situation at Port de Vincennes in Paris
11/25 Kosher grocery attack
Police are mobilized (L) with reports of a hostage situation at Port de Vincennes in Paris
12/25 Kosher grocery attack
Police are mobilized with reports of a hostage situation at Port de Vincennes in Paris
13/25 Kosher grocery attack
Police mobilize with reports of a hostage situation at Port de Vincennes in Paris
14/25 Kosher grocery attack
Members of the French police special force advance with their equipment near the scene of a hostage taking at a kosher supermarket in eastern Paris
15/25 Kosher grocery attack
Police gather with reports of a hostage situation at Port de Vincennes in Paris
16/25 Kosher grocery attack
Police officers gather on the closed ring road that circles Paris near a hostage-taking situation at a kosher market i
17/25 Kosher grocery attack
Emergency services workers arrive at a hostage-taking situation at a kosher market in Paris
18/25 Kosher grocery attack
Members of the French police special force RAID take position in Saint-Mande, near Porte de Vincennes
19/25 Kosher grocery attack
Police arrive with guns at Port de Vincennes in Paris
20/25 Kosher grocery attack
Police arrive with guns at Port de Vincennes in Paris
21/25 Kosher grocery attack
Police mobilize with reports of a hostage situation at Port de Vincennes
22/25 Kosher grocery attack
Hooded police officers cross the closed ring road that circles Paris near a hostage-taking situation at a kosher market in Paris
23/25 Kosher grocery attack
Police forces arrive at the scene where suspected armed man has taken hostages in kosher grocery in Paris
@Fiaxhs
24/25 Kosher grocery attack
A general view of the scene of a hostages taking at a kosher supermarket in eastern Paris
@Fiaxhs
25/25 Kosher grocery attack
A general view of the scene of a hostages taking at a kosher supermarket (seen in rear) in eastern Paris
@Fiaxhs
Coulibaly's girlfriend Hayat Boumedienne, 26, has also be named by police as a person of interest. It is believed that Ms Boumedienne attended a suspected jihadist training camp in Cantal, a mountainous area of central France.
The status of Ms Boumedienne remains unclear following the conclusion of the siege.
Others present at the camp included Cherif Kouachi, who is one of the suspected gunman in the horrific Charlie Hebdo massacre. Both were questioned by French security at the time but released for lack of evidence.
A French newsweekly L'Orbs has claimed that Coulibaly and Cherif Kouachi may have met between 2005 and 2006, when both served jail sentences at the notoriously overcrowded Fleury-Mérogis prison, south of Paris.
Details have also emerged that Coulibaly, who reportedly has nine sisters, may have met former French President Nicolas Sarkozy in July 2009, telling Le Parisien: “I’m really pleased. I don’t know what I’ll say to him. I guess I’ll start with hello. Hopefully the president can help me get a job".
Police evacuated everyone from the area, Le Monde reported. Local people said they had heard prolonged gunfire.
Heavily armed police units cordoned off surrounding streets around the incident unfolding at Hyper Cacher (roughly translated as Super Kosher) grocery store, The Independent's John Lichfield reported.
Paris' Mayor Anne Hidalgo wrote on Twitter: “I have learned with horror of the hostage situation that has begun at the Porte de Vincennes, and I am going to the scene immediately.”
The two suspected gunmen of the Charlie Hebdo massacre earlier this week remain holed up inside a print works as French negotiators work to create a dialogue.
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