Stories of courage in the face of terror

In the days after the bloody end of twin French hostage crises on Friday, stories of life-saving courage filter out.

At a kosher supermarket in Paris, a quick-thinking Muslim employee hides several Jewish shoppers in the basement before sneaking out to brief police on the hostage-taker upstairs.

In the town of Dammartin-en-Goele, a poker-faced businessman fools a pair of gunmen into believing they’re alone in the building before being allowed to leave unharmed.

Lassana Bathily, a young immigrant from Mali, was in the store’s underground stockroom when gunman Amedy Coulibaly burst in upstairs. Bathily turned off the stockroom’s freezer and hid a group of frightened shoppers inside before sneaking out through a fire escape to speak to police. Initially confused for the attacker, he was forced to the ground and handcuffed.

Once police realised their mistake, he provided them with the key they needed to open the supermarket’s metal blinds and mount their assault.

About 40km to the northeast, Michel Catalano was waiting on a supplier at his office in Dammartin-en-Goele when he saw Cherif and Said Kouachi approaching with Kalashnikov rifles.

As his colleague, a 26-year-old he identified only as Lilian, ran to hide, he distracted the gunmen. He offered them coffee and — after a brief exchange of fire with authorities outside — bandaged one of the brother’s necks.

Eventually, Catalano was released as police swapped textss with Lilian inside. Before dusk, the brothers ran outside, guns blazing. They died in a hail of return fire.