Cartoonist Corrine Rey has opened up about the fatal gun attack that occurred at the Charlie Hebdo magazine office in Paris on Wednesday.
Daily Mail reports that Corrine survived the “massacre,” and admits that she was the one who was forced to let the suspected killers into the building.
According to the report, Corrine Rey had just picked her daughter up from her day care and returned to work when she was confronted by two masked gunmen. Due to the digi-code security system installed on the inter-phone, the men needed Corrine to enter the building.
“I had to gone to pick up my daughter at day care, arriving in front of the magazine building, where two masked and armed men brutally threatened us… They said they wanted to go up to the offices, so I tapped in the code.”
Corrine Rey further explains that she and her daughter hid underneath a desk. From their hiding spot, they unfortunately witnessed two other cartoonists executed by the suspected killers.
“[I] cowered under my desk with my daughter as I watched them execute my colleagues.”
According to Corrine, the shooting lasted for five minutes. Corrine Rey also stated that the men were both fluent in French and claimed to be Al Qaeda terrorists .
The lawyer representing Charlie Hebdo confirmed that a total of four cartoonists were killed by the masked “terrorists” – Charb, Tignous, Wolinski and Cabu. Reports confirm that “Charb” was the pen name of the magazine’s chief editor, Stephane Charbonnier.
Corrine Rey states that the two colleagues that she witnessed being executed from underneath her desk were Wolinski and Cabu.
As the masked gunmen stalked the building, witnesses claim that they shouted such phrases as “The Prophet has been avenged!” and “God is greatest.”
Another office employee that works in the same building told BBC World Service that he arrived at the scene shortly after the gunmen left. He also stated that it did not take long for doctors and police to arrive at the scene. However, since the magazine office has a history of serious attacks , he understood why police were likely not very far from the building.
The masked gunmen were able to escape the magazine office building in a stolen car after being involved in a gunfight with local police, leaving a total of 12 people dead — including the journalists as well as a police officer that was shot and killed near the street.
[Image Credit: Daily Mail & Euronews ]