Police officer dies after being shot in new attack

Police Operation Under Way As Paris Cop Dies
A major police operation is under way in France as tensions remain high across the country after yesterday's terror attack in Paris.

This morning several armed officers were at the scene of another fatal gun attack in the south of the capital.

A female police officer was killed after she was called to reports of a traffic accident involving a grey Clio at around 7.15am. A street sweeper was wounded in the shooting.

Sky's Crime Correspondent Martin Brunt says police with heavy armour were seen in Porte de Chatillon shortly afterwards and TV news crews were being pushed back from the area, which was sealed off with tape.

Meanwhile, officers are still hunting for suspects in the deadly gun attack on the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

Two men matching their description are said to have robbed a petrol station to the northeast of Paris.

With the country now on its highest terror alert, hundreds of extra officers have been deployed to guard media offices, places of worship and other areas deemed at risk.

In today's attack, which is not being linked by officials to yesterday's shootings, a man wearing a bullet-proof vest fired at the police woman and a civilian, who is thought to be a council worker.

Witness Ahmed Sassi said: "There was an officer in front of a white car and a man running away who shot."

TV channel iTele said both victims of the shooting were seen lying on the ground.

Le Parisien newspaper reported that one of the shooters ran towards the Metro station Chatillon-Montrouge. The other is reported to have fled by car and is still on the run.

AFP news agency reported that a 53-year-old suspect has been detained.

Brunt said: "It's difficult to believe there's no link (to the Charlie Hebdo shootings).

"Maybe it is a copycat, but maybe it is not related."

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said authorities were doing their best to identify and arrest the attacker, and he urged people not to jump to conclusions about any link to the Charlie Hebdo attack.

The officers were gathering in Porte de Chatillon as a minute's silence was held across France in a mark of respect for the victims of yesterday's violence.

Other attacks have also been reported today - including a "criminal" explosion at a kebab shop near a mosque in eastern France.

Overnight, two Muslim places of worship - in Le Mans, west of Paris, and Port-la-Nouvelle, in southern France - were targeted by blank grenades and gunfire respectively. No casualties were reported.