PARIS — A stunned Paris is in mourning Saturday in the aftermath of apparently coordinated attacks across the city that left more than 150 people dead in the city’s worst day of terror.
On a night when thousands of Paris residents and tourists were reveling and fans were enjoying a soccer match between France and world champion Germany, horror struck in an unprecedented manner.
Terrorists — some with AK-47s, some reportedly with bombs strapped to them — attacked sites throughout the French capital and at the stadium where the soccer match was underway.
The head of the Paris police has confirmed that five attackers are dead, including three of them who were wearing explosive belts, at Bataclan during the police raid, Paris police spokesman Michel Cadot told France Info radio on Saturday.
The worst carnage occurred at the Bataclan concert hall, with at least 112 left dead.
A journalist who was at a heavy metal concert there escaped and told CNN:
“We lied down on the floor not to get hurt. It was a huge panic. The terrorists shot at us for 10 to 15 minutes. It was a bloodbath.”
Julien Pearce didn’t hear the attackers speak, but he said one friend who escaped heard them talk about Iraq and Syria. Later, he said the men were speaking French.
Charlotte Brehaut and a friend were dining in Le Petit Cambodge, a Cambodian restaurant, when the shooting started from the street, she told CNN.
“All of a sudden we heard huge gunshots and glass coming through the windows. We ducked with the other diners,” she said.
She grabbed the arm of a woman on the floor. The woman didn’t respond. The woman was shot in the chest and there was blood all around her. At least 14 people were killed in Le Petit Cambodge, French authorities said.
The Paris police prefecture told residents to remain at home and avoid going out unless absolutely necessary.
Six shootings took place in Paris and three explosions total took place at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis late Friday, CNN affiliate BFMTV said.
One of the explosions at the Stade de France outside Paris appears to be a suicide bombing, a Western intelligence source receiving direct intelligence from the scene told CNN’s Deb Feyerick.
A dismembered body, consistent with the aftermath of an explosion from that type of device, was found at the scene, the source said.
Traffic on several subway lines has been interrupted following the attacks, the Paris police prefecture reported.
At this hour, there is no credible or specific threat in the United States, according to a U.S. government official. The NYPD said there is no known threat against the city.
President Barack Obama calls Paris attacks ‘outrageous attempt to terrorize innocent civilians.’
French President Francois Hollande, in an address to the nation, said he had declared a state of emergency, meaning borders will be closed. “We have to show compassion and solidarity and we also have to show unity and keep our cool. France must be strong and great,” he said.
The Paris prefecture of police is instructing residents to stay home. The prefecture said via Twitter that people should stay inside “unless there’s an absolute necessity.”
Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, who was in Paris when the attacks took place, says he is suspending the broadcast of an event he was holding there.
“Out of solidarity with the French people and the City of Paris, we have decided to suspend our broadcast of 24 Hours of Reality and Live Earth. Our thoughts are with all who have been affected and the entire nation of France. We send our condolences to the families of those who have been killed or injured.”
French authorities have launched a terrorism investigation, Eric Pelletier, a reporter with Le Pariesien, tells CNN Paul Cruickshank. There has been no official claim of responsibility, though ISIS has applauded the attacks on Twitter, Cruickshank reports.
“This is an attack not just on Paris, not just on the people on France, but an attack on all humanity and the universal values we share,” U.S. President Barack Obama said at the White House. He called the attacks an “outrageous attempt to terrorize innocent civilians.”
Counterterrorism officials around the United States have convened secure conference calls to try to gather information and to assess whether there is any indication of threats in the U.S, according to two U.S. counterterrorism officials. Immediate suspicion for the events in Paris falls to so-called returnees — people who have traveled to Syria and Iraq and have returned, the officials said.
Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, tells The Associated Press he was not aware of any chatter pointing to the Paris attacks ahead of time.
Schiff says it is unclear who was responsible for the attacks, but says the Islamic State group and al-Qaida are “distinct possibilities” — with the Islamic State more likely.
The California congressman says investigators would scour any electronic devices that they managed to recover from the gunmen. He says it is possible but not definite that some of the attackers would be known to French law enforcement — as was the case with the Charlie Hebdo attack in January.
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In early January of this year, two gunmen attacked the Paris offices of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing 12 and wounding 11.
Said and Cherif Kouachi wanted to punish the magazine for the publication of cartoons that they believed mocked the Prophet Mohammed. The Kouachi brothers two days later were shot and killed in a standoff with police in Dammartin-en-Goele.
Amedy Coulibaly, an associate of Said and Cherif Kouachi, attacked a Jewish grocery store in Paris, taking more than a dozen people hostage and killing four. Coulibaly had killed a policewoman the day before, on January 8. Coulibaly was killed when police stormed the kosher market.
Global reaction
German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she is “deeply shaken by the news and pictures that are reaching us from Paris. ” The German leader issued a statement saying her thoughts were with the victims “of the apparent terrorist attack.”
The Secretary-General of the NATO alliance says he is “deeply shocked by horrific Paris attacks.”
Jens Stoltenberg said in a Twitter message that “We stand together with the people of #France. Terrorism will never defeat democracy.”
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is condemning “the despicable terrorist attacks” in Paris.
Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, who was in Paris when the attacks took place, says he is suspending the broadcast of an event he was holding there.
“Out of solidarity with the French people and the City of Paris, we have decided to suspend our broadcast of 24 Hours of Reality and Live Earth. Our thoughts are with all who have been affected and the entire nation of France. We send our condolences to the families of those who have been killed or injured.”
