PARIS - An armed man who took hostages this morning at a school complex just south of Paris has released them all unhurt and been taken into police custody.

On the video showing the arrest, you can hear the police shouting " Drop your weapon ! "

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The drama began early in the day as parents dropped their children off at the complex, which includes nursery and elementary schools, in the town of Vitry-sur-Seine. French schools are closed for the summer, but still run activities.

Most hostages, who included children, were freed fairly quickly, though one parent was held for several hours. All were unhurt. Shortly after releasing the last hostage, the man walked out with a gun in his hand. The elite Raid police force used a tazer gun to capture him.

The man's motivations were unclear. He reportedly said to have been "hit by a train" and that he intended to be "killed by the police."

The father who was retained by the gunman was taking his son to the kindergarten Charles Perrault, located in Vitry-sur-Seine, shortly after 7 o'clock this morning. He found the hostage-taker with four children and three adults. The perpetrator exhibited a weapon, but the father managed to get his son and other hostages to be released, finding himself alone with the madman for several hours.