Photo: Reuters

The gunman who shot dead a policeman in Paris on Thursday has been identified from papers left in his car, but French officials are yet to release his name, the BBC reports.

Local media say the 39-year-old lived in the city’s suburbs, and had been seen as a potential Islamist radical.

The gunman wounded two police officers before being shot dead by security forces on the Champs Elysees.

A pump-action shotgun and knives were found in his car, the French TV station BFMTV reported.

Another man suspected of possible links to the attack has turned himself in to Belgian police.

French police have also taken three family members of the gunman into custody, Reuters reports, citing a legal source.