France treating Thursday’s Paris police shooting as terrorism

Decision made in light of ‘context,’ day after 12 slain in attack on satirical magazine; gunman still on loose

By AFP 8 January 2015, 6:08 pm

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A French policeman stands guard outside the headquarters of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo in Paris, September 19, 2012. (AP/Michel Euler)

PARIS — The shooting that killed a Paris policewoman on Thursday is being handled by anti-terrorist judges, the prosecutor’s office announced.

The decision was made “in view of the current context” following the killing of 12 people by Islamist gunmen in an attack on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo a day earlier, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement, emphasizing that no link has yet been made between the two incidents.

The policewoman was shot by a gunman wearing a bulletproof vest just outside Paris, as was a city employee who is in serious condition, police said Thursday.

The man escaped after the attack, which comes just a day after a deadly Islamist assault on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo left 12 dead, although no link has yet been established between the two incidents.

The gunman is still on the run, said Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve — who rushed to the scene at Montrouge just south of the city — contradicting information given earlier by a source close to the case, who said the suspect had been detained.