PARIS: Police in the French capital have said that one of the officers killed in Wednesday’s terrorist attack on a satire magazine was a Muslim man in his early forties, the Independent reported.

Ahmed Merabet was patrolling the Paris neighbourhood where Charlie Hebdo's offices are located, when the gunmen attacked.

In a video footage released by Reuters, 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 newspaper reported.

A masked gunman is heard on the video asking the police officer “Do you want to kill me?” Merabat allegedly replied “No, it is OK chief” before one of them shot him a second time.

Another police officer was also shot dead by the attackers, who are now suspected of being on the run, while being pursued by French authorities.

Wednesday’s terrorist attack, which left 12 people dead, was the worst militant attack on French soil in decades.