France is mourning the brutal killing of 12 people in Paris on Wednesday, holding vigils in towns and cities across the country.

Mourners in Paris held up a huge sign that read: “We are not afraid”. Vigils were also held around the world in London, Berlin and Brussels, as well as Melbourne and Sydney.

• Charlie Hebdo: a history of controversy
• ‘Je suis Charlie’: World’s cartoonists take a stand

The publication itself mourned the tragedy by blacking out its website, leaving only a simple statement, ‘Je suis Charlie’ [‘I am Charlie’], with a link to the same statement in Arabic.

According to French newspapers, the victims of the attack are employees and contributors to the magazine: Charb, Cabu, Tignous, Wolinski, Honoré, Mustapha Ourad, Bernard Maris and building worker Frédéric Boisseau. Guest editor Michel Renaud was also killed.

The gunmen also killed two policemen: Franck Brinsolaro, who was in charge of Charb’s security, and Ahmed Merabet.

Among the 11 injured include journalist Phillipe Lançon and two policemen.

In a separate incident on Thursday, a policewoman was killed in a shooting in southern Paris, less than a day after the Charlie Hebdo attack.

The gunman wore a bullet-proof vest and is still on the run after opening fire with an automatic rifle. No link has yet been established with Wednesday’s shooting.

The Victims

Jean Cabut (Cabu), 76

Cabut was Charlie Hebdo’s lead cartoonist and one of France’s most beloved caricaturists. He was born in Châlons-sur-Marne and spent two years in Algeria completing his French military service before starting work as a satirical cartoonist in the 1950s.

He contributed to controversial French magazine Hara Kiri (which was subsequently banned), Le Canard Enchainé and Charlie Hebdo.

An amateur jazz player, Cabut also worked in television where he would often produce politician cartoons live on air.

He was the father of singer Mano Solo who died in 2010.

In 2006 Cabut drew a cartoon depicting the Prophet Mohammed under the headline “Mohammed overwhelmed by fundamentalists”. The newspaper was consequently sued by a number of Islamic groups in France.

Georges Wolinski (Wolinski), 80

Wolinski was the editor of Charlie Hebdo between 1970 and 1981. Born in Tunis, his mother was French-Italian and his father was Jewish from Poland. Along with Cabu he was one of the most celebrated French cartoonists and caricaturists.

He worked or contributed to a number of French publications including France-Soir, Paris Match, Libération and Charlie Hebdo and wrote for both French cinema and theatre.

He was awarded la Légion d’honneur – France’s highest honour – by Jacques Chirac in 2005.

Bernard Verlhac (Tignous), 58

Verlhac made his debut to cartooning with a comic strip and illustration in 1980.

His cartoons were published in a number of different French news magazines including Marianne, Fluide Glacial, L’Huaninité and Charlie Hebdo.

He has published several books throughout his career and is a contributor to the ‘Cartooning for Peace’ initiative which uses editorial cartoons to create a better understanding of different cultures and beliefs.

Michel Renaud

Frédéric Boisseau, 42

Boisseau was an employee of French food services and facilities management company, Sodexo.

In an email to staff, Sodexo wrote that Boisseau was married, a father of two children aged 10 and 12 and had worked for the company for 15 years.

Boisseau was responsible for the team in charge of security and maintenance of the Régie Immobilière building in Paris.

Stéphane Charbonnier (Charb), 47

Simply known as ‘Charb’, 47-year-old Charbonnier was Charlie Hebdo’s editor and a renowned cartoonist.

He had been under police protection since 2011 when Charlie Hebdo’s offices were firebombed, and was included in al-Qaeda’s most wanted list in 2013.

After receiving death threats in 2012, he said he was not afraid of retaliations, and preferred to “die standing than live on my knees”.

Philippe Honoré, 73

Seventy-three-year-old cartoonist Phillipe Honoré is one of the reported victims.

He was known simply as ‘Honoré’.

His cartoon of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi giving his best wishes for 2015 is the last tweet on Charlie Hebdo’s Twitter feed.

Elsa Cayat

The only female victim, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Elsa Cayat was a columnist at Charlie Hebdo.

She wrote the column “Divan” twice a month on subjects such as the Holocaust and world violence.

Mustapha Ourrad

A proofreader at the controversial magazine.

 Ahmed Merabet, 42

Police have named 42-year-old Ahmed Merabet as the police officer killed by the gunman on a sidewalk.

Mr Merabet was a patrolman in Paris’ 11^th arrondissement where Charlie Hebdo’s office is.

He is survived by his wife.

Franck Brinsolaro

Mr Brinsolaro was the second police officer killed in the attack, a member of the special protection service (SPHP) assigned to protect editor Stéphane Charbonnier.

Colleagues told news site Le Figaro he had a young daughter.

  The alleged gunmen

Cherif Kouachi, 32

Kouachi is a 32-year-old Franco Algerian born in Paris’ 10th arrondissement neighbourhood.

He served 18 months in prison in 2008 on terror related charges for being part of an organisation that sent jihadists to Iraq.

He is believed to have fought in Syria alongside his brother Said in 2014 before returning to France.

Said Kouachi, 34

Cherif Kouachi’s older brother, Said Kouachi is a 34-year-old Franco Algerian born in Paris.

He was unknown to police before the shooting, unlike brother Cherif who is a convicted terrorist.

He is believed to have fought in Syria in 2014 alongside his brother.

According to French news site Linternaute, the gunmen were identified after Said left his ID card in their abandoned getaway car.

Hamyd Mourad

An 18-year-old Reims resident was also named as a suspect. It is believed the man has handed himself in to police.

French broadcaster Itele is reporting that classmates of the suspect claim he was with them at the time of the attack.