Policewoman dies after new Paris shooting

A POLICE officer has died and a council worker has been seriously wounded in a shootout in a southern district of Paris, according to reports.

Police officers, firefighters and rescue workers gather at the site of a shooting in Montrouge, Paris. Picture: AP

The female officer was seriously wounded in the attack in the Montrouge area of the French capital before succumbing to her injuries. The council worker, believed to be a street cleaner, is receiving treatment in hospital. Another police officer was also wounded in the attack.

French television station ITELE said two people, thought to be police officers, were seen lying on the ground after the shooting. The suspect is said to have fled into a Metro station after the attack. It is not clear if the suspect acted alone or had an accomplice.

Authorities are doing their utmost to identify and arrest the attacker, according to France’s leading security official, interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve.

He cautioned against jumping to conclusions the day after masked gunmen killed 12 people, including two police, in an assault on a satirical newspaper.

Mr Cazeneuve left an emergency government meeting to travel to the scene of the latest shooting. Paris police said it was too early to draw any connection between the attacks.

France is on its highest level of alert after yesterday’s assault on the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper killed 12.

There were also reports this morning of an explosion at a kebab shop near a mosque in Lyon.

It is unclear whether the shooting is connected to the killing of 12 people at satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo yesterday.

• Follow the latest on the Charlie Hebdo shootings

CONNECT WITH THE SCOTSMAN

• Subscribe to our daily newsletter (requires registration) and get the latest news, sport and business headlines delivered to your inbox every morning

• You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Google +