Paris prosecutor Francois Molins has released surveillance pictures of a gunman who is on the loose in Paris, after he yesterday opened fire with a shotgun at the offices of a left-wing newspaper and a major bank before hijacking a car to take him to the Champs-Elysees avenue.

The assailant burst into the office of the Liberation daily in central Paris, shooting and seriously wounding a photographer's assistant before fleeing, police and staff at the newspaper said.

About 90 minutes later, he fired at least three shots into the lobby of the suburban headquarters of Societe Generale in the La Defense business district 10 kilometres (6 miles) west of the centre, the prosecutor said. A window was shattered but none of the dozen or so workers standing nearby was hit.

The mid-morning incidents came days after an armed intruder entered the offices of the BFM TV channel, threatening journalists before disappearing. Police said video surveillance footage showed it was the same man.