Arrest ends hostage siege in central Paris

PARIS – Agence France-Presse

An armed man who took two people hostage in central Paris on June 12 has been arrested and his victims freed “safe and sound,” police in the French capital said.

“Two hostages including one who had petrol poured on them” have been freed, police said, adding that the man had been armed with a knife.

The standoff began around 4 p.m., with BFM television reporting that the man had entered the offices of a start-up company on the Rue des Petites Ecuries, a gritty area of the bustling 10th arrondissement.

At least one other man was slightly injured while fighting with the hostage-taker before police arrived on the scene.

The motive for the attack was not clear, but the incident did not appear to be terrorism-related.

“Based on our initial investigations, it could be a mentally unstable person whose motivations are still unclear,” another source said.

France has been on high alert after a series of jihadist attacks in the past three years, most recently a knife attack in Paris last month in which one person was killed.