At Least 12 Dead In Shooting At Satirical Publication's Office In Paris

At least 12 people were killed during a shooting at the headquarters of the satiricalCharlie Hebdo weekly in Paris, police say.

Speaking to reporters at the scene, President François Hollande said this was a "terrorist operation" in which journalists were "cowardly assassinated."

"France today faced a shock," Hollande said, according to a BBC interpreter. "Today I'm thinking about the victims."

France 24 reports that the incident began when two gunmen opened fire on the offices before fleeing.

Charlie Hebdo is a magazine that's faced threats over its content in the past. Back in 2011, the weekly printed a drawing of the Prophet Muhammad. Afterward, its offices were destroyed in a petrol bomb attack.

This is a breaking news story. As often happens in situations like these, some information reported early may turn out to be inaccurate. We'll move quickly to correct the record and we'll only point to the best information we have at the time. Refresh this page for the latest.

Update at 7:39 a.m. ET. The Magazine Was Being Protected:

"This seems to be the terrorist attack that France has been bracing for."

That's the word from NPR's Eleanor Beardsley who is now at the site of the shooting.

Eleanor tells our Newscast unit that France has been warning of this kind of attack for a while now, especially since it joined the U.S. effort against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

Eleanor says that because of previous threats, the magazine's office were protected, but it's not clear how the gunmen managed to get past the extra security.

She describes Paris as being in shock. She says people from nearby office buildings have gathered just outside the police cordons trying to make sense of what's just happened.