De to jihadistene trengte inn i kirken i Normandie via en bakdør da morgenmessen hadde begynt kl 0900. Det ser ut til at de øyeblikkelig angrep presten, Jacques Hemel. Han fikk halsen skåret over. De andre ble holdt som gissel.
President Francois Hollande sier, ifølge Washington Post, at de to var tilknyttet IS.
En nonne rakk å flykte. Det var hun som fikk varslet politiet som raskt var på pletten. Et annet gissel ligger hardt skadd på sykehus.
En talsmann for innenriksdepartmentet forklarer hva som skjedde:
The spokesman 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.