We had dashed to the Saint-Denis area of Paris in the early hours of Wednesday morning after seeing reports of gunshots on social media. The moment we arrived, a SWAT team streamed past us. At that point we could still see straight into the plaza, where an operation was under way.

A heavily armed unit in riot gear moved down the street, weapons pointed up at the building’s upper floors. Then three military trucks arrived. Armed soldiers spilled out to form a perimeter.

We had begun setting up to broadcast live from the scene when men with masks and balaclavas arrived. They were the "police judiciare," the investigative police. They began walking among the gathering crowd of journalists, looking into our faces as though looking for someone in particular. I've been told this is common at protests, but perhaps less so in a situation like this.

And then the explosions came. One, then another, then another. I counted perhaps six or seven in total. The situation was fluid and fast-moving, the tension ever greater.

Above us a helicopter hovered, shining a spotlight on one of the nearby buildings. Police units moved up and down the street with their weapons up.

The operation appeared to have begun around 4:30am, and was over perhaps an hour later. As daylight broke information began to trickle out. It seemed there were six suspects in total, one of whom was a woman who detonated a suicide vest.

While it was unclear whether the police had expected to encounter so many suspects, it seemed they were checking the crowd in case further accomplices were watching events unfold. There was also concern that further explosive devices might be lying either in the apartment or nearby.

All the time residents of this terrified neighbourhood peered from balconies attempting to see what was going on.  Soldiers gathered in the plaza. Some people were leaving to go to work in the morning.

One man we spoke to had got up, and while there was a lull in the gunfire, tried to leave. Suddenly gunfire had started again and police told him to evacuate immediately. He had pointed back to his apartment, telling them "my three-year-old daughter is there," and they allowed him back up to grab her.

Saint-Denis is home to the Stade de France, a focal point of Friday night’s attacks. People here feel particularly on edge: not only were they hit by the attack, but now they know the perpetrators may have been living among them.  Coming to terms with so much is very hard.

Written by Atika Shubert, Senior International Correspondent, CNN