Paris policewoman killing linked to massacre brothers: police

[PARIS] French police said on Friday there was a link between a suspect identified in the fatal shooting of a policewoman south of Paris and the brothers wanted for a massacre at Charlie Hebdo magazine.

"The recent and latest progress in the investigation has established a connection between the two shootings," a police source told AFP, calling for caution as they carried out their probe.

While France was reeling from the massacre of 12 people at the satirical Charlie Hebdo magazine a day earlier by masked gunmen, a man in a bullet-proof vest carrying a handgun and automatic rifle on Thursday shot dead a policewoman and seriously hurt a city employee in Montrouge.

The victims had been called to the scene of a car accident.

Prosecutors initially said they had not yet linked the two incidents, but handed the probe to anti-terrorist investigators.

Police announced on Friday they had identified the gunman in the Montrouge shooting.

"The suspect has been identified. Two people very close to him have been taken into custody," a police source said.

AFP