Paris is still reeling from the recent terrorist attack on the weekly satirical newspaper, Charlie Hebdo. The tragic incident, which occurred on Wednesday, January 8th, saw assailants enter the building of the French publication with automatic weapons, leaving 12 dead. More recently, a second shooting has occurred within the streets of the City of Lights, killing one police officer and injuring another.
The deceased – a young policewoman – was said to have been on duty in the southern edge of Paris when the incident took place, according to a French police official. The name of the officer was not released by officials, most likely to protect her family from any further instigation should the attack have any link to yesterday’s 12-man massacre at the paper.
The officer who suffered the fatal shooting stopped to investigate a traffic accident when an unknown attacker opened fire, hitting her and a local street sweeper. Emmanuel Cravello, of the Alliance police union, announced the woman had died later that day in the hospital from her injuries.
Bernard Cazeneuve, French interior minister, has said the attacker is still on the run. He added that French officials do not believe the attack is linked with the assault on the Charlie Hebdo publication, which aimed to hunt down cartoonists known for defacing the name of the Islamic religion.
Authorities are cautioning citizens to remain calm and not jump to any conclusions over the nature of the two attacks, though the two gunmen from yesterday are also still at large. According to reports, one of the heavily armed men behind Wednesday’s events has since turned himself in at t a police station in Charleville-Mézières, some 230 kilometers northeast of Paris. The man in custody has a history with jihadi networks like the Islamic State group, along with a previous terrorism conviction.
Thursday’s assault marks the death of a third police officer in two days – a situation the French government is not to let go easily of. Seven people have been arrested since Wednesday in the ongoing investigation of the Charlie Hebdo attack, and French police are carrying out a manhunt for two brothers suspected of the assault.
