Paris attack gunman: From petty criminal to cold-blooded terrorist

LONDON – Omar Ismail Mostefai was known to police as nothing more than a petty criminal before he became the first gunman identified from Friday’s attacks in Paris, which left at least 129 dead.

Identified by his finger, which was found among the rubble of the Bataclan concert hall, the 29-year-old was one of three men who blew himself up, killing 89 people in the bloodiest scene of the carnage.

Born on Nov. 21, 1985 in the poor Paris Courcouronnes suburb, his criminal record shows eight convictions for petty crimes between 2004 and 2010, but no jail time.

Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said Mostefai had been singled out as a highpriority target for radicalization in 2010 but, before Friday, he had “never been implicated in an investigation or a terrorist association.”

Investigators are now probing whether he took a trip to Syria last year, according to police sources. The killer’s father and 34-year-old brother were placed in custody on Saturday evening and their homes were searched.

“It’s a crazy thing, it’s madness,” his brother told AFP, his voice trembling, before he was taken into custody. “Yesterday I was in Paris and I saw how this shit went down.”

The brother, one of four boys in the family along with two sisters, turned himself in to police after learning Mostefai was involved in the attacks.

While he had cut ties with Mostefai several years ago, and knew he had been involved in petty crimes, his brother said he had never imagined his brother could be radicalized.

The last he knew, Mostefai had gone to Algeria with his family and his “little girl,” he said, adding: “It’s been a time since I have had any news.”

“I called my mother, she didn’t seem to know anything,” he said Saturday.