New Zealander Ella Zauner shared an apartment block with one of the victims of the Charlie Hebdo shooting.
A Kaikohe woman's daughter learned about the terrorist-style execution of 12 people in Paris when she was confronted by armed police outside her apartment building in the French capital.
Kaikohe woman Nina Campbell said that after a day out her daughter Ella Zauner and partner Chris Jewell were searched and
questioned by police as they returned to their apartment building where one of the murdered journalists from the magazine Charlie Hebdo had lived. Ms Zauner, on holiday in Paris, told the Northern Advocate she had been unaware of the cold-blooded killings in the satirical magazine's office at 11.30am on Wednesday, Paris time.
"We were walking around Paris all day unaware of the attack, and visited the main retail shopping district which was very busy with Parisiennes continuing their daily business," Ms Zauner said.
They had noticed a high police presence and were met by armed officers at the entrance of their apartment building.
"My French is limited and they spoke very little English, so all we could understand was 'terrorist attack'. We were searched and told to turn on the news, as we couldn't communicate with each other well enough to convey the situation," Ms Zauner said.
