The facade of the Groupe Scolaire Commandant Charcot looks like any other neighborhood school in Neuilly-sur-Seine. In May nineteen ninety-three, a man named Eric Schmitt entered a classroom here with a sword and sticks of dynamite strapped to his chest. He held twenty-one children and their teacher hostage for forty-six hours. He demanded fifteen million dollars and safe passage. Nicolas Sarkozy, then the mayor of the town, negotiated for hours inside the building before the police finally intervened and killed him.
Neuilly kindergarten hostage crisis
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