Police have named the a police officer who was killed during an attack on the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo yesterday as Ahmed Merabet, 42, who happened to be patrolling the area at the time and is believed to be Muslim.
Mr Merabet is seen in footage released by Reuters begging the gunmen to spare his life in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, where the offices of the publication are situated, before he was shot more than once. The man is survived by his wife.
After being shot the first time, the gunmen wearing balaclavas and holding Kalashnikov rifles are seen running past the police officer – who had his hands up in surrender – and shot in his direction again at point-blank range as he was lying on the pavement outside the offices.
The masked gunmen is heard asking the police officer “Do you want to kill me?” before he allegedly replied “No, it is OK chief” before one of them shot him a second time round amid an attack described as the worst in France in 50 years.
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| First victim of #CharlieHebdo attack was French Muslim cop Ahmed Merabet. |
Another officer, Franck Brinsolaro, was also shot dead by the three attackers suspected to be brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi, who are in their early 30s, and the third suspect who turned himself to the police last night named as 18-year-old Hamyd Mourad.
Mr Brinsolaro, who was the police bodyguard of Charlie Hebdo editor Stéphane Charbonnier and was sitting in the editorial room when the gunmen shot the cartoonists and journalists dead, is survived by his wife and two children.
“They knew the risks they were facing in carrying out their duty and clearly showed great bravery in trying to prevent the terrorists murdering others. We stand in solidarity and express our great sympathy for their families and friends.
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