A gunman has killed a policewoman in Paris, a day after suspected Islamists killed 12 people at the office of a satirical magazine.
A second person was seriously injured in the attack in the southern suburb of Montrouge, after which the gunman fled.
It is unclear of the incident is related to the Charlie Hebdo massacre, which traumatised France.
Police have made seven arrests in the hunt for two brothers, the main suspects,. A third has surrendered.
Arrest warrants were issued for Cherif and Said Kouachi, said to be “armed and dangerous”.
Sources close to the investigation told AFP news agency of a report that the two had been spotted on Thursday in a car on a road in the Aisne region of northern France.
They were reportedly recognised by the manager of a service station near the town of Villers-Cotteret, and still armed.
A minute’s silence was observed at midday (11:00 GMT) across the country as France observed national mourning for the victims of the Charlie Hebdo attack. The bells of Notre Dame cathedral in the capital tolled in mourning.
The victims
- Charlie Hebdo editor and cartoonist Stephane “Charb” Charbonnier, 47, who had been living under police protection since receiving death threats
- Cartoonists Jean “Cabu” Cabut, 76, Bernard “Tignous” Verlhac, 57, Georges Wolinski, 80, and Philippe Honore, 73
- Economist and regular magazine columnist Bernard Maris, 68, known to readers as Uncle Bernard
- Mustapha Ourrad, proof-reader
- Elsa Cayat, psychoanalyst and columnist, the only woman killed
- Michel Renaud, who was visiting from the city of Clermont-Ferrand
- Frederic Boisseau, 42, caretaker, who was in the reception area at the time of the attack
- Police officers Franck Brinsolaro, who acted as Charb’s bodyguard, and Ahmed Merabet, 42, who was shot dead while on the ground
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve warned against jumping to conclusions after the pre-dawn shooting in Montrouge.
The gunman was armed with a machine-gun and a pistol and wore a bullet-proof jacket, police sources told AFP news agency.
A local resident, Ahmed Sassi, described a “scene of panic”. He said he had seen a police officer standing and than a man dressed in dark clothes who ran up and shot the officer “at point black range”.
“I saw the officer fall and a colleague call for help,” Mr Sassi said.
Overnight, seven people believed to be connected to the two main suspects in the Charlie Hebdo attack were detained in the towns of Reims and Charleville-Mezieres, as well as in the Paris area.
Cherif Kouachi was sentenced in 2008 to three years in prison for belonging to a Paris-based group sending jihadist fighters to Iraq.
A third suspect, 18-year-old Hamyd Mourad handed himself in to police in Charleville-Mezieres. He reportedly surrendered after hearing his name on the news.
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Source: BBC