Prime suspects not arrested in raid — French prosecutor

A French prosecutor says prime suspects Abdelhamid Abaaoud and Salah Abdeslam are not among those arrested in the St. Denis raid outside Paris.

At least two suspects are killed, and eight are arrested, he says. The prosecutor adds that police were tipped off that the Paris mastermind was in the St. Denis apartment, which was subsequently raided.

He says police officers were wounded in the pre-dawn operation. Some 5,000 rounds of ammunition are fired during the standoff, and the reinforced door resisted attempts to blow it up, he says. The operation was very complex, requiring grenades, assault rifles and more, he says, and the third floor collapsed.

Three people are wounded, and the police are still working to establish their identities. He says a body was discovered in the rubble that hasn’t been identified. Eight people are remanded in custody, seven men and one woman. Their identities have not been established.

The prosecutor says they believe a woman blew herself up, but the investigation is ongoing. “So far the information is tentative, and I cannot give the identities and number of people killed, he stresses. But there were at least two,” he says.

He adds that police had to slow down the investigation because the building is on the verge of collapsing.

With regard to the broader investigation, the prosecutor says a cellphone was found outside the Bataclan theater. A text message was sent at 10:30 p.m. on Friday stating “here we go, we’re starting.” The weapons cache used by the Paris terrorists “shows there were willing to go all the way with this,” he says.

With regard to the safe houses, he says there were four, including two hotel rooms.