Paris Attacks: 'They Were Shooting at us Like If
We Were Birds'By Chris Harris
November 14, 2015 "Information
Clearing House" - "People"-
Those who managed to escape Friday's violence at the Bataclan
concert venue described a horrifying scene inside, where more than
100 hostages were reportedly killed by at least two men with guns
and explosives.
The men entered the venue with AK-47s, hurling explosives into
clusters of music fans. The massacre ended around midnight
The gunmen wore flak jackets, according to eyewitnesses, and several
yelled "This is for Syria" in English and "God is good" in Arabic,
NPR reports. They didn't rush, witnesses said, killing their victims
one at a time and taking time to reload at least three times.
Justin Pierce, a journalist, told BBC that "several men came into
the concert" and were not wearing masks.
"They came in with what looked like Kalashnikovs and fired blindly
on the crowd," Pierce recalled. He added, "They were shooting at us
like if we were birds."
Pierce added that the shooters were "very young" and that the
shooting "lasted between 10 and 15 minutes" and "was extremely
violent and there was panic."
"It was a bloodbath," he added. "It was easy for them."
Several concertgoers fled the concert by American rock act The
Eagles of Death Metal.
Another witness seemed to confirm this account to Le Monde:
"I was at the show around 9:30, 9:40, when two or three people – two
for sure – came in and started shooting blindly with automatic
weapons, with a Kalashnikov … that lasted at least ten, fifteen
minutes. They reloaded, they had the time they needed. They reloaded
three or four times and that lasted at least 10 minute."
The witness said that "at one moment we took refuge behind the
stage, we were blocked, and when the shots stopped we took advantage
of the respite to take the emergency exit, and we saw lots of people
in the street who were covered in blood, who had gunshot wounds."
Another witness told France 24 that she heard "loads of shots," but
didn't think the shooting was real at first. When people started
rushing for the doors, "that's when I saw people with blood all over
their clothes, and another was shot in the leg."
The woman added: "I am very lucky to be alive."
MSNBC reported that two men arrived in a car and
used automatic weapons and opened fire on a man eating outside a
restaurant. They then entered the restaurant and opened fire.
Charlotte Brehaut, who was eating inside the restaurant and sitting
near the window with a companion when shots came in, missing both
her and the person she was seated with.
"As soon as we hit the floor, the first thing i thought of were the
Charlie Hebdo attacks," Brehaut said. "It was the same
kind of feeling of dread and uncertainty that we had in January of
this year."
Initially after the gunfire, Brehaut said, "It seemed as if they
weren't coming in. And i think the initial shock of there being
casualties in the restaurant and shots going in the restaurant.
After that, we were waiting to see whether or not they would come
in, and they didn't, thankfully."
One witness who was standing at the bar in a restaurant where one of
the attacks unfolded told reporters "there are lots of dead people"
and added the scene was "pretty horrific to be honest. I was at the
back of the bar. I couldn't see anything. I heard gunshots. People
dropped to the ground. We put a table over our heads to protect us."
The man added it was difficult to get out of the restaurant because
of the bodies that blocked their exit.
Copyright © 2015 Time Inc. All rights reserved.
