Armed man holds woman hostage in Paris bank

PARIS: An armed man was holding a woman hostage in a bank in Paris on Friday after releasing three other people he had seized, police said. The man entered the branch of CIC bank in Paris's southern 13th district around 1450 GMT with a handgun and was demanding social housing for himself and his son, police said. He took three women and a man hostage but quickly released two of the women and, an hour-and-a-half later, released the man. One of the bank's employees managed to trigger an alarm shortly after the man entered the bank. Six helmeted police officers, including one carrying a shield, could be seen standing outside the entrance to the bank branch. The area was closed off to traffic and police set up a perimeter of about 100 metres (yards) around the bank. Two snipers were deployed on nearby rooftops and two more on the sidewalk. A command post was set up in a restaurant facing the bank. Reached by AFP, representatives of CIC declined to make any immediate comment.