NBC Reports, Retracts That Paris Terror Attack Suspect Killed, 2 Others Arrested (Updating)
NBC News reported that one of the Charlie Hebdo terror suspects was killed and two others arrested on Wednesday evening, citing two senior U.S. counterterrorism officials. However, French news outlets were not confiming this report and NBC appeared to backtrack shortly thereafter.
Update at 8:15 EST: NBC’s Pete Williams, who reported that the suspects were killed and arrested on “Hardball” in the 7pmET hour, said he was no longer certain of the status of the suspects at the top of 8pmET’s “All In” with Chris Hayes.
“To be fair here we just don’t know exactly what the situation is in France tonight” he said on MSNBC. “We were told earlier this evening from two U.S. counterterrorism officials that one person was dead and two have been arrested, but there is other U.S. officials that say they haven’t been told that.”
Two minutes before Williams’ retraction, Chris Matthews concluded “Hardball” by repeating the report that one suspect had been killed and two others arrested.
NBC and MSNBC has not yet responded to TheWrap’s request for comment regarding their reporting.
Previously:
The men — brothers Said Kouachi and Cherif Kouachi, and Hamyd Mourad — are part of a large Yemeni terrorist network, NBC reported. Kouachi was previously imprisoned in 2008, serving 18 months on terrorism charges for assisting funnel fighters to Iraq’s insurgency.
Fox News cited “unconfirmed reports” that a suspect had been killed and two arrested.
Authorities believed the killers were part of a well-trained Islamic extremist network due to their masks and militaristic precision in carrying out the attack.
Also Read: What Is Charlie Hebdo – And Why Was French Newspaper Targeted by Islamic Radicals?
French news network Infos140 reported: “Raid underway in Croix-Rouge sector of Reims,” Wednesday night. The network also reported the youngest of the three suspects, Hamyd Mourad, went to Charleville-Mezieres—a commune in Northern France—and his friends say he was in class Wednesday morning.
The terror attack Wednesday morning killed at least 12 people at the offices of the French satirical newspaper. Another 11 people were injured, four of them seriously.
Also Read: CNN, MSNBC Censor Controversial Charlie Hebdo Cartoons to Varying Degrees
Among the dead are acclaimed French cartoonist Jean Cabut, editorial director Stéphane Charbonnier, cartoonists Georges Wolinski and Bernard Verlag, and two police officers. The newspaper housed some of France’s most acclaimed cartoonists, known for provakative cartoons mocking various religious and political figures ranging from the Muslim prophet Muhammad to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Also Read: Hollywood, World Leaders React to Deadly Paris Terror Attack on Social Media
Various media outlets described the weekly newspaper as similar to U.S. satirical sites and figures ranging from “The Onion” to “The Daily Show.”
In 2011, the newspaper’s office was firebombed after an issue mocked the prophet Muhammad.
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