The Charlie Hebdo shooting in Paris has left at least 12 people dead after masked gunmen stormed the satirical publication. A graphic video showing the execution-style murder of an injured police officer has surfaced, revealing the lengths to which the attackers went to murder their victims.
Millions woke up Wednesday to news about the Charlie Hebdo shooting. The popular satirical site had been at the center of some controversy when it refused to take down a cartoon making fun of the Prophet Mohammed.
As reported by the Inquisitr , ever since 2012, Charlie Hebdo had been threatened and workers were reportedly afraid that an attack such as this would happen. Almost three-years ago, the magazine published several cartoons of the Islamic Prophet, one of which showed him naked.
French President Hollande has called this an act of terrorism, however, the White House has not gone that far and is only calling it an act of violence. From the images captured by nearby residents, the gunman who carried out the Charlie Hebdo shooting had carefully choreographed the attack.
Chilling amateur clips show how the masked men shoot someone on a sidewalk and later come back to “finish him off” execution-style. The victim was a police officer trying to protect innocent civilians at the scene and had his hands up when he was killed.
A manhunt for three suspects is underway in the shooting death of 12 people, including the editor Stephane Charbonnier and three cartoonists at Charlie Hebdo. Charbonnier had been asked to stop posting cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad, but refused, reportedly saying he preferred to “die standing.”
“I don’t feel as though I’m killing someone with a pen.” -Stephane Charbonnier 1967-2015 #CharlieHebdo pic.twitter.com/RmJlpSsaNt
— brent bambury (@notrexmurphy) January 7, 2015
Victims named as armed killers are hunted in Paris #CharlieHebdo http://t.co/LsuVv04YX2 pic.twitter.com/Cm7IOCtcPt
— Sky News (@SkyNews) January 7, 2015
People are taking to social media to stand with the victims of the Charlie Hebdo shooting on Wednesday as police continue the search for the three masked men that are seen getting in a getaway car after the attack. The hashtag Je Suis Charlie (I am Charlie) is trending worldwide on Twitter as a show of solidarity.
It is unclear at this time whether the attackers are affiliated with ISIS, the group known for beheading Western journalists on videos posted to the internet. However, witnesses reported hearing the gunmen shouting, “Allahu Akbar, the Prophet has been avenged.”
French President Francois Hollande — who visited the scene later in the day — said in a statement, “We are attacked because we are free.” Police are at a heightened state of alert, and Paris is on virtual lockdown as they hunt down the attackers responsible for the Charlie Hebdo shooting.
[Image via Twitter]