The death count in Paris has surpassed 120 persons after seven public places were attacked and victims were systematically killed in a coordinated mass murder, including a music hall, a restaurant, a mall, and a futbol stadium.
The attackers held over 100 hostages in the music hall before police stormed the building shortly after midnight. The attackers used guns and explosives to threaten and kill civilians.
Currently four assailants have been killed, and one arrested suspect has told the police that the attacks were a coordinated ISIS strike.
Curfew has been enforced for the first time since 1944 and France’s land borders have been sealed for the first time in 10 years. As over 1,500 soldiers have been called into Paris at the orders of the President, Paris is setting up checkpoints in an official state of emergency that, permits military to enter any home, apartment or place of business without a court order.
The tragedy follows the January 2015 terrorist attack on the Paris newspaper Charlie Hebdo in which brothers Saïd and Chérif Kouachi executed 18 French persons and journalists in revenge for Islamic cartooning produced at the office.
PRHS exchange student Hugo Delagraye, who lived in France, has made attempts to reach family during the international crisis that has lit up social and professional media channels.
“I called my mom about 2:15 pm today because she texted me to tell me about [the shooting] and even if I don’t have close family in Paris, I started to cry in class because they hurt my country, my republic and I’m not on the territory to face it.” said Delagraye, a senior who moved to Paso Robles as a French foreign exchange student in August.
Delagraye translated the French President François Hollande’s tweet: “Faced with the fear there is a nation that knows how to defend, mobilize its forces and once again will defeat terrorists.”
Senior Casey Galli, who lived in France last year as a foreign exchange student, received early information about the killings and said she is deeply affected after contacting her French family and friends immediately after the news broke.
“Everyone I know is doing alright but their grief is immeasurable. They are being so strong and brave in this time of tragedy. I am proud to call France my second home. All of my thoughts and love go out to the people affected by this horrific event. I hope this will call the entire world to arms against terrorism of every form. Hate and violence are never the answer,” said Galli.
President Obama called the mass murder “an attack on all humanity and the universal values we share.” He called the attacks an “outrageous attempt to terrorize innocent civilians.”
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