This Is How The Charlie Hebdo Gunmen Escaped

DOMINIQUE FAGET/AFP/Getty Images

The masked gunmen who attacked the office of the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo managed to escape using hijacked cars.

After shooting journalists inside the office, the gunmen took to the streets outside, where they stole a car to use as their getaway vehicle.

Photos posted on Twitter by journalists at the scene show multiple bullet holes in the windshield of a police car.

A graphic video posted, and later deleted, on Facebook by a witness showed the gunmen shooting and killing a police officer.

Screenshot / Jordi Mir / Facebook

The video then shows two gunmen driving away relatively slowly. That would have helped the men in the car blend in with traffic. 

After driving away from the scene, the two gunmen exited their getaway car, leaving it in the middle of a junction in the 20th Arrondissement. The gunmen walked a few metres, France 2 reporter Hugo Clément reports, before pointing their weapons at a female driver and stealing her car. Police at the scene claimed not to have found any weapons inside the car, indicating that the gunmen most likely remained heavily armed.

This annotated map shows the approximate route taken by the attackers as they made their getaway:

Google Maps

Sky News is reporting that the French police say they are hunting three men, not two. If so, it appears the gunmen may have split up after the attack, which would have helped them evade the police.