Courcouronnes (France), Nov 15 : 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 November 21 1985 in the poor Paris suburb of Courcouronnes, Mostefai's 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 high-priority target for radicalisation 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 has taken into custody.     ?AFP