Lauren Keating, Tech Times

Twelve people died and three others were critically injured on Wednesday when gunmen armed with AK-47 rifles opened fire at the office of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris.

French officials say they believe there was a total of three gunmen who were captured on video wearing all black. The video also captures one of the men screaming "Allahu Akbar," an Islamic phrase that means "God is great."

The gunmen were seen fleeing the scene of the crime, getting into a hijacked car and remain at large.

"This is a terrorist operation against an office that has been threatened several times, which is why it was protected," French President Francois Hollande said.

The shootings were sparked by Charlie Hebdo latest cover, a depiction of France being led by an Islamic party that prohibits women from being in the workplace. The concept is based off a new book by Michel Houellebecq called Submission.

Among the fatalities were ten journalists including the magazine's director Stéphane Charbonnier, as well as well-known cartoonists Jean Cabut, Georges Wolinski, Bernard Velhac, as well as two police officers, making the attack one of the deadliest intentional attacks on journalists to date.

This is not the first time Charlie Hebdo has been under attack. The weekly magazine was firebombed in 2011 after featuring the Prophet Muhammad on its cover. The newspaper's website was also hacked. The magazine decided to again publish Muhammad caricatures a year later.

The liberal magazine commonly mocked politicians, military leaders, religious figures and businessmen. The magazine commonly shocks audiences with their controversial cartoon covers.

Political cartoonists took to Twitter to respond to the attacks. Check out how Twitter reacted to the shooting below.

Others also weighed in on the attacks.

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Tags: Charlie Hebdo France terrorism Mass Shootings Magazine Satire
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