Woman officer dies after gunman opens fire at police officers near Paris

Paris: Paris: A policewoman has died and a city employee is critically injured after a man wearing a bullet-proof vest fired on them with an automatic rifle outside Paris on Thursday, police said.

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.

The female police officer was reportedly shot in the back.

The incident comes on a day of mourning in France after Islamist gunmen stormed the office of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday, 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.

According to initial reports, both the gunmen were heavily armed.

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