French police gun down attackers who killed priest

PARIS

Before being shot dead by police, two knife-wielding attackers killed an elderly priest Tuesday morning in a church in a northern French town, according to French police.

After the two assailants took the priest and other church-goers hostage, the police intervened and shot them, according to the Interior Ministry.

The murdered priest was identified by the archbishop of Rouen as Jacques Hamel, 84.

Police are on the scene and the area has been cordoned off, and the town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, near Rouen, is inaccessible, France’s BFM TV reported.

The motive for the attack and the identity of the assailants are currently unknown, though remarks by France’s president suggested Daesh involvement.

Visiting the scene of the attack with Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, French President Francois Hollande decried the "ignoble terrorist attack."

"Daesh has declared war on us, we must fight this war by all means," he said, adding that it was not only Catholics that were hit by the attack, but the entire French public.

"We are facing a test, one more, after what we experienced in recent years… Our strength lies in working together,” Hollande said.

The president also expressed support for "the families of the victims and all the Catholics of France, the solidarity and compassion of the nation."

The president announced that he had invited Bishop Lebrun, archbishop of Rouen, who was at World Youth Day in Krakow, Poland, to visit the Elysee Palace.

Hollande also said he would meet religious representatives on Wednesday morning.

The attackers were killed by the Search and Intervention Brigade, according to Pierre-Henry Brandet, Interior Ministry spokesman.

The two men had entered the church through the back door during mass, according to a police source quoted by France Info.

Brandet added that security operations are ongoing around the church.