4 Cartoonists Among 12 Shot Dead in Paris; Investigators Searching for 3 Gunmen

Breaking news update:
The names of three cartoonists who police said were killed Wednesday along with Charlie Hebdo editor Stephane “Charb” Charbonnier were Georges Wolinski (who worked under the pen name Wolinski), Jean Cabut (“Cabu”) and Bernard Verlhac (“Tigous”).
Original post:
A French satirical magazine’s office turned into a horror show Wednesday when attackers burst in and began firing, killing at least 12 before heading off onto the streets of Paris.

Firefighters carry an injured man on a stretcher in front of the offices of the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris on Jan. 7, 2015, after armed gunmen stormed the offices leaving at least one dead according to a police source. (Credit: Philippe Dupeyrat/AFP/Getty Images)

While it wasn’t immediately clear who was behind the late morning attack, French officials viewed it as a blatant act of terrorism. And there were fears things could get worse, with the assailants still on the loose.
“We need to find the actors of this terrorist act,” French President Francois Hollande said. “They must be arrested and brought before judges and condemned as quickly as possible. France is shocked today.”
Latest update at 7:32 a.m.
• Charlie Hebdo editor and cartoonist Stephane Charbonnier, known as “Charb,” is among the dead in the attack, a police spokesman in the district where the office is located told CNN. At least three other well-known cartoonists — known by the pen names Cabu, Wolinski and Tignous — were also killed.
• Police impounded a black Citroen in northeastern Paris similar to the one purportedly used by the attackers as a getaway car. Video from CNN affiliate BFMTV shows the vehicle being towed from Porte de Pantin, in Paris’ 19th district.
• French Prime Minister Manuel Valls raised the country’s security to its highest level — “attack alert” — after the Charlie Hebdo bloodshed. That means there will be reinforced security at media company offices, major stores, religious centers and on public transport, Valls’ office said in a statement.

French satirical paper Charlie Hebdo’s editor Stephane “Charb” Charbonnier is seen in Sept. 19, 2012, holding an issue of his paper. He was gunned down in Paris on Jan. 7, 2015. (Credit: FRED DUFOUR/AFP/GettyImages)

All available forces have been mobilized, with civil and military reinforcements as part of this plan. In addition, regional authorities have been instructed to step up their vigilance.
• Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said that all means are being used to “ensure as quickly as possible we can identify the (three attackers) and (arrest them), so that they can be punished with the severity that their barbarous acts are worthy of.”
• In addition to the 12 dead, eight people were wounded, including four in critical condition, Cazeneuve said.
Witnesses: Hooded gunmen dressed in black
These developments come after heavily armed men entered the Charlie Hebdo office in Paris’ 11th district, close to Place de la Bastille, and opened fire, SPG police union spokesman Luc Poignant told CNN affiliate BFMTV.
A witness who works in the office opposite the magazine’s told BFMTV that he saw two hooded men, dressed in black, enter the building with Kalashnikov submachine guns.
“We then heard them open fire inside, with many shots,” he told the channel. “We were all evacuated to the roof. After several minutes, the men fled, after having continued firing in the middle of the street.”
Witnesses also spoke of seeing a rocket launcher, according to French media reports.
A video taken by a journalist for the Premieres Lignes agency shows the gunmen shouting “God is great!” as they began the attack, Le Monde reported. They also cried “We have avenged the Prophet!”
Two police officers were also among the dead, the law enforcement source said, according to Le Monde.

French cartoonist Georges Wolinski was gunned down on Jan. 7, 2015. He is pictured posing in the French central city of Chanceau-pres-Loches in August 2011. (Credit: ALAIN JOCARD/AFP/Getty Images)

Satirical magazine has drawn anger
The satirical magazine is no stranger to controversy for having lampooned a variety of subjects, including Christianity. But what it’s done on Islam has gotten the most attention and garnered the most vitriol.
Its last tweet before Wednesday’s attack featured a cartoon of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and the words, “And, above all, health.”
Earlier cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed — depictions that are deplored by Muslims — spurred protests and the burning of the magazine’s office three years ago.
In November 2011, Charlie Hebdo’s office caught fire the day it was due to publish a cover making fun of Islamic law.
The latest attack spurred Hollande, the French President, to vow that “no barbarous act will ever extinguish freedom of the press.”
“We knew that we were threatened like other countries in the world,” the President added later. “We are threatened because we are a country of freedom.”
Support for Charlie Hebdo was also evident on social media, where a trend emerged of people tweeting past covers from the magazine as well as the words “Je suis Charlie,” or “I am Charlie.”
World leaders condemn attack, support France
The bloodshed rattled not only France, but much of the world.

Firefighters push a stretcher outside the headquarters of the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris on Jan. 7, 2015, after armed gunmen stormed the offices leaving 12 dead, including two police officers, according to sources close to the investigation. (Credit: KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images)

European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans expressed solidarity with France, calling the incident “an attack on all of us, on our fundamental values, on the freedoms our #EU societies are built upon.”
Others around the continent echoed this view, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron, who took to Twitter to call “the murders in Paris … sickening.”
France also got backing from the head of NATO, the military alliance it belongs to, with Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg blasting what he called “a barbaric act and an outrageous attack on press freedom.”
U.S. President Barack Obama similarly condemned the attack, saying he’s directed his government “to provide any assistance needed to help bring these terrorists to justice” in support of “America’s oldest ally.”
“Time and again, the French people have stood up for the universal values that generations of our people have defended,” Obama said. “France, and the great city of Paris where this outrageous attack took place, offer the world a timeless example that will endure well beyond the hateful vision of these killers.”
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