/ 8 January 2015

France in turmoil as more attacks follow Charlie Hebdo

A gunman has opened fire on police outside of Paris
A gunman has opened fire on police outside of Paris

A man wearing a bullet-proof vest fired on police officers with an automatic rifle on Thursday just outside Paris, seriously injuring one of them, a police source said.

The source said a city employee was also injured and in critical condition.

A suspect has since been detained, another source close to the case said. 

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve was rushing to the scene of the incident near Porte de Chatillon south of Paris, which happened just a day after two  gunmen killed 12 people in an apparent Islamist attack on satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo.

According to Reuters, a police source said that it was unclear at this stage whether there was any link to the killings at the Charlie Hebdo magazine.

ITELE television station said two police were lying on the ground after the attack. The police women from this shooting has been reported dead. 

Suspect not detained, still on the run
AFP later confirmed that Cazeneuve said the gunman is still on the run, contradicting information given earlier by a source close to the case, who said the suspect had been detained.

Police initially said the two victims were critical, but Cazeneuve said just the policewoman was fighting for her life.

Third incident
A “criminal” explosion occurred early Thursday at a kebab shop near a mosque in the eastern French town of Villefranche-sur-Saone, officials said, but left no casualties.

“It is a criminal act,” a local official told AFP, adding that a police investigation has been opened. No link was suggested with the deadly attack on Paris magazine Charlie Hebdo a day earlier. – AFP, Reuters.