1 Hostage Killed, 1 Seriously Wounded In Church In Northern France
By Tim Hume, Carol Jordan and Pierre Buet
NORMANDY, FRANCE (CNN) -- UPDATE 7:45 a.m. ET
French President Francois Hollande tells reporters that Tuesday's deadly attack at a Catholic church in Normandy was carried out by "by two terrorists in the name of Daesh" -- another name for ISIS.
The hostage killed in an attack on a Catholic church in Normandy, France, on Tuesday was a priest, the Archbishop of Rouen said in a statement. The Rev. Jacques Hamel, 84, was killed during the attack, according to a statement published on the website of the Diocese of Rouen.
[Breaking news update, published at 6:32 a.m. ET]
In addition to the hostage who was killed during the standoff in a church in Normandy, France, on Tuesday, a hostage was seriously wounded and is "between life and death," Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet told reporters.
The hostage-taking took place in a Catholic church in the town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray during morning Mass, he said.
[Original story, published at 6:16 a.m. ET
One hostage has been killed in a standoff in a church in the northern French town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray Tuesday, CNN affiliate BFMTV reports.
The situation is over after the two hostage-takers were neutralized, the French broadcaster reported.
Two men took a priest, two nuns and two churchgoers hostage in a church in the town in France's Normandy region, BFMTV reported.
The Paris anti-terror prosecutor has taken over the investigation into the attack, France's Interior Ministry said in a statement.
A police cordon has been set up around the scene in the town, about 108 kilometers (67 miles) northwest of Paris.
A witness, Dominique Michot, told CNN that the hostage situation was underway when he arrived at his nearby workplace shortly before 10 a.m. local time (5 a.m. ET).
Michot, a baker who spoke to CNN from inside the police perimeter, said he heard several rifle bursts at about 10 a.m.
He then heard police talk on their radios about an incoming bomb squad.
French President Francois Hollande and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve are on their way to the scene, officials confirmed.
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