DAVID GREENE, HOST:
I'm David Greene in Paris this morning where it has been an incredibly tense morning. Residents of a suburb just north of Paris, Saint-Denis, awoke to some terrifying sounds.
(SOUNDBITE OF GUNFIRE)
GREENE: There was gunfire. There was also the sound of explosions. And all of this was coming from the vicinity of two apartments that police stormed this morning. At least a hundred officers, some SWAT teams, were fired upon, describing conditions some say they've never before experienced. This was a police raid targeting the man authorities believe planned the attacks here in Paris last week. His name is Abdelhamid Abaaoud. It remains unclear at this hour whether he was actually in one of those apartments. Let's turn now to NPR's Eleanor Beardsley who has been in this neighborhood, Saint-Denis, all morning. And, Eleanor, just give us a picture, if you can, of what this morning ahs been like for people there.
ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: David, it's been absolutely crazy. Remember, about 15,000 people who live in the (unintelligible) were confined to their homes - did not come out. It was just hundreds of police and military in the town. The streets were blocked off. And many of the people woke up at 5 in the morning - it started at 4:20, the police raid - to gunshot fire and explosions. And they were up ever since - very tense. It's over now, and people are starting to come out. But people are just kind of in a state of shock over what happened today. The streets are filling up a little, but it's been a very tense morning for the people in Saint-Denis.
GREENE: Alright, that is NPR's Eleanor Beardsley, and we're hearing from her throughout the program this morning. Just recapping the news - police, before daybreak, in a suburb of Paris, stormed two apartments looking for the man they believe planned the attacks here in Paris last week. It is unclear if he was even in those apartments. Eleanor, thanks very much. We'll catch up with you later.
BEARDSLEY: Thanks, David. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
