PARIS (AA) – Before being shot dead by police, two knife-wielding attackers killed a priest Tuesday morning in a church in a northern French town, according to French police.
The incident happened in a church in the northern French town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, according to local media reports.
After the two assailants took the priest and other church-goers hostage, the police intervened and shot them, according to the Interior Ministry.
Police are on the scene and the area has been cordoned off, and the town, near Rouen, is inaccessible, France’s BFM TV reported.
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.
The motive for the hostage-taking and the identity of the attackers is currently unknown.
Brandet added that security operations are ongoing around the church.
French President Francois Hollande and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve are expected to visit the site of the attack.
