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French authorities say the gunman who killed four hostages in a kosher supermarket in Paris was emailed instructions suggesting he choose easy targets.

BFM TV, BBC News and France 24 report investigators have found a message on Amedy Coulibaly’s computer from an unknown sender on Jan. 8, telling him to “work alone,” “pick the easiest and most certain targets,” and “repeat this step several times.” The message was later deleted.

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Investigators believe the email originated in Syria, though the directives came from a sender using a fake, U.S.-based email account.

The message arrived hours after Coulibaly shot Clarissa Jean-Philippe, a police officer, in the Montrouge suburb of Paris and the city was under intense security following the Charlie Hebdo attack on Jan. 7. Saïd and Chérif Kouachi killed 12 people at the satirical newspaper office in Paris.

During the manhunt for the Islamist terrorists, Coulibaly took staff and customers of a kosher supermarket hostage in the Porte de Vincennes neighbourhood of Paris, demanding police let the Kouachi brothers go.