Two seriously hurt after man fires on police outside Paris

Police officers secure access to a residential building during investigations in the eastern French city of Reims, after the shooting against the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical newspaper. A police officer was wounded in a shootout in southern Paris on Thursday, a police source told Reuters, adding that it was unclear at this stage whether there was any link to the killings at the Charlie Hebdo magazine. Reuters photo

A policewoman and a city employee were seriously hurt today after a man opened fire with an automatic rifle outside Paris, police said, but no link has yet been established with the deadly attack on a satirical magazine.

The gunman is still on the run, said Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve -- who rushed to the scene at Malakoff just south of the city -- 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.

The incident comes on a day of mourning in France after Islamist gunmen stormed the office of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo yesterday, killing eight journalists, two police and two others.

The men are still thought to be on the run, and there has so far been no claim of responsibility for the massacre that has deeply shocked France.

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