Gunman on run after four killed
PARIS • A “lone gunman” was still at large Tuesday night after killing at least four people and injuring others in the eastern French city of Strasbourg near its famed Christmas market.
Shots were exchanged on Rue Epinal after a manhunt involving police and soldiers with French media saying the gunman had already been “identified” as being on a list of “security threats.”
French authorities are treating the shooting as a terrorist act and anti-terrorist prosecutors opened an investigation last night. Two of the wounded were said to be in a critical condition. The gunman was initially wounded by soldiers on patrol as part of France’s Sentinelle anti-terror operation but managed to flee, said police.
Alain Moyemont, a witness, told BFM TV: “I saw people in the crowd running in panic after the shooting started. At least two people were on the ground.”
A local man named Philippe told Europe 1 radio: “I saw a person on the ground, unconscious and bleeding. There was another person on the ground just behind, and one or two more a bit further along the street.”
The European Parliament was in lockdown after reports of the shooting, with MEPS, staff and journalists unable to leave the building, which is a few kilometres from the square.
Antonio Tajani, the European Parliament president, says that legislative sessions will continue for the rest of the week despite the attack and the lockdown of the building.
The legislature “will not be intimidated by terrorist or criminal attacks,” he said. “Let us move on.”
According to a local paper, the gunman opened fire in the busy Rue des Grandes-arcades at around 8 p.m. local time.
Shortly afterwards, the regional state prefecture confirmed that “an incident is under way” on Twitter. “Stay calm and follow the orders that will be given. Consult official accounts to stay informed,” said the message.
France remains on high alert after a wave of attacks commissioned or inspired by Islamic State militants since early 2015, in which about 240 people have been killed.
Strasbourg’s Christmas was the target of a foiled terror attack in Dec 2000. The al-qaida plot, in which a truck bomb was due to be detonated beneath the steps of Strasbourg cathedral, next to the market, has been described as blueprint for would-be attackers. The plot failed when British intelligence tipped off the French and German authorities after intercepting a call to the suspected paymaster in London.
Raids in France, Germany and Britain followed and the ring leaders were arrested in Frankfurt, where bomb making materials were found.