Hostages freed in standoff with teen in Southern France

TOULOUSE, France -- Four women have been released on Tuesday evening after being taken hostage by a 17-year-old man in the French village of Blagnac, near Toulouse in Southern France.

"We are rejoicing that the four women hostages have been liberated, and that they are healthy and safe after long hours of negotiations," said Etienne Guyot, Prefect of Haute-Garonne (Southern France) Tuesday night in a statement.

A first hostage was freed around 8 pm local time (GMT1800), with the other three women freed shortly after 9 pm local time. The 17-year-old minor has remained in the tobacconist's shop where the scene unfolded, and is still armed, according to local officials.

"Negotiations are ongoing to obtain, if possible, his surrender, and if not, the best conditions for arrest possible," said Dominique Alzeari, public prosecutor for Toulouse.

French police surrounded the tobacconist in the village of Blagnac, after the 17-year old man took several hostages Tuesday afternoon following a failed robbery attempt.

Regional French newspaper La Depeche du Midi reports that hostage situation began at 4:15 pm local time, and that gunshots were fired at 6:14 pm and 6:25 pm as the gunman tried to make law enforcement back away from the shop.

Terrorist motives have been ruled out for now, according to French television station BFMTV, with reports indicating the youth had been known to police following his participation in a "Yellow Vests" protest in December 2018.

The local division of the French national police has asked citizens to avoid the area in a tweet, and the elite tactical RAID unit was brought in to reinforce other law enforcement services responding to the scene.