Charlie Hebdo shooting: 1 surrenders, 2 sought
PARIS (KABC) -- One of three suspects has surrendered to police in connection to the terror attack at the office of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris, which left 12 people dead.
The suspect was identified as 18-year-old Hamyd Mourad, whose nationality wasn't immediately clear. He surrendered to police voluntarily in the town of Charleville-Mezieres and is said to be cooperating with police.
U.S. law enforcement officials identified the other two suspects to ABC News as Cherif Kouachi and Said Kouachi. The two suspects are believed to be brothers, both in their 30s.
A wanted poster released by French police labeled the outstanding suspects as "on the loose, armed and dangerous." French Prime Minister Manuel Valls says there were "several detentions" overnight in the hunt for the two suspects, but did not clarify whether the Kouachi brothers had been taken into custody.
Paris Deputy Mayor Patrick Klugman told ABC News that two of the assailants went inside the offices of Charlie Hebdo and listed off the names of their targets before shooting them execution style. The third man was waiting outside the building.
Eight journalists, two police officers, a maintenance worker and a visitor were killed, said prosecutor Francois Molins. He said 11 people were wounded - four of them seriously.
"Hey! We avenged the Prophet Muhammad! We killed Charlie Hebdo," one of the men shouted in French, according to video shot from a nearby building.
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In May 2008, Cherif, along with six others, was sentenced to three years in prison for terrorism in Paris. All seven men were accused of sending about 12 young French men to join Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, after funneling them through radical religious establishments in Syria and Egypt. He said he was outraged at the torture of Iraqi inmates at the U.S. prison at Abu Ghraib near Baghdad.
French authorities believed Kouachi had been planning to go to Syria for training in 2005.
Meantime, Charlie Hebdo had been repeatedly threatened for its caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad and other sketches.
After the magazine was firebombed in 2011, ABC News' Jeffrey Kofman interviewed the periodical's editor and cartoonist, Stephane Charbonnier.
And Charbonnier remained defiant in the face of the threats against his publication.
"Our job is not to defend freedom of speech but without it we're dead. We can't live in a country without freedom of speech. I prefer to die than to live like a rat," Charbonnier told ABC News.
Charbonnier was executed Wednesday, along with 11 others.
The attack is one of France's deadliest in decades, and the impact of the shootings is being felt on the streets and in the cafes of Paris. French President Francois Hollande called the deadly attack "an act of exceptional barbarism" and declared Thursday a day of national mourning.
VIDEO: Locals in Paris react to terror attack
President Obama released the following statement: "I strongly condemn the horrific shooting at the offices of Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris that has reportedly killed 12 people. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of this terrorist attack and the people of France at this difficult time. France is America's oldest ally, and has stood shoulder to shoulder with the United States in the fight against terrorists who threaten our shared security and the world. Time and again, the French people have stood up for the universal values that generations of our people have defended. France, and the great city of Paris where this outrageous attack took place, offer the world a timeless example that will endure well beyond the hateful vision of these killers. We are in touch with French officials and I have directed my Administration to provide any assistance needed to help bring these terrorists to justice."
ABC News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
