What We Know About Ismaël Omar Mostefaï, the First Identified Suspected Gunman in the Paris Attacks

One of the seven suspect assailants who took part in the devastating series of attacks in Paris on Friday has been identified as Frenchman Ismaël Omar Mostefaï. As more details about him and his accomplices emerge, here is what we know so far.

Mostefaï was identified using his fingerprints, taken from his remains at the Bataclan theater, which he and two other men attacked on Friday. According to French national daily newspaper Le Figaro, he was born November 21, 1985 in the town of Courcouronnes in the Essonne department of France, just south of Paris. He was of Algerian descent.

Mostefaï frequently attended the mosque in Lucé, near Chartres—a town around 60 miles from Paris, according to the newspaper, citing information provided by the deputy mayor of Chartres, Jean-Pierre Gorges. The head of the mosque, Abdallah Benali, told AFP that he did not know Mostefaï.

The suspected assailant was known to police because of his eight convictions for petty crime between 2004 and 2010 but he was never imprisoned. In 2010 authorities had identified him as being at strong risk of radicalization and investigators are now looking into whether or not he stayed in Syria for several months in the winter of 2013-2014. According to Le Figaro he may have entered Syria through Turkey.

Six people close to Mostefaï are in custody, including his father, brother and sister-in-law. The homes of his father and brother in the Essonne and Aube regions have been searched. Mostefaï's brother told AFP that he had cut ties with his sibling several years ago.

Another suspect whose passport was found near the site of one of the attacks was identified by the initials A.A. by the Serbian Ministry of the Interior, which claims he was registered as an asylum seeker on the Presevo border crossing between Serbia and Macedonia, Reuters reports. Serbian national daily Blic published what it purports to be a picture of the passport, identifying the man as Ahmed Almuhamed.

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