Two men stormed a northern French church, killing a priest and seriously wounding another person, before they were shot dead by police.
A police source told Reuters it appeared the priest’s throat had been slit.
Five people were taken hostage by the assailants in Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, near Rouen. French media reported that one of the hostages managed to escape to raise the alarm.
The motivations for the hostage-taking were not yet clear, but the Paris prosecutor’s office said the case had been handed to anti-terrorism judges for investigation.
The French interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, is en route to Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, Reuters reports.
