Police officer and wife killed in 'Isis-inspired' knife attack in Paris suburb before officers shoot dead suspect

A three-year-old was also caught up in the incident

A vehicle blocks the road during the poolice assault in Magnanville (GETTY)

A French police officer and his wife, who worked for the Ministry of the Interior, have been killed in knife attacks by an unknown assailant, who has now been shot dead by police after a tense stand off in the family home.

A three-year-old boy, thought to be their son, was caught up in the hostage situation which followed but was found unharmed when police stormed the house, in the Paris suburb of Magnanville on Monday night.

The Islamic State's Amaq news agency cited an unnamed "source" as saying an IS fighter carried out the attack, but the extremist jihadist group has not officially claimed the attack.

One of the victims, named in in local media as Jean-Baptiste Salvaing, deputy chief of judicial police at Les Mureaux police station, was killed first at around 8pm.

Mr Salvaing, aged 42, was returning home, out of uniform, when he was stabbed nine times in the abdomen, reported Le Figaro newspaper.

His attacker then entered his home and held the man's wife hostage, along with the couple's three-year-old son.

Elite police commandos from the RAID unit attended the the scene as authorities entered negotiations with the attacker. The street was also sealed off.

At nearly 11pm, shots and an explosion were heard, and police entered the house.

The attacker was then shot dead.

The child has been resuced unhurt, but is in a state of shock, according to French radio reports.

Online rumours that the killer had broadcast images of the second killing were partially substantiated by an official tweet from the French Police National account asking people not to share "malicious images".