Berlin truck attack suspect killed in Milan

Italian PM hails police officers, Merkel praises public for keeping calm

A rookie Italian police officer on Friday shot dead the Tunisian suspect in the Berlin truck attack after four days on the run, ending a massive Europewide manhunt.

Anis Amri, 24, was accused of killing 12 people and wounding dozens more in Monday’s assault on a Christmas market, which has been claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group.

Italy’s interior minister Marco Minniti told a press conference in Rome that Amri had been fatally shot after pulling out a pistol and firing at police who had stopped him for a routine identity check around 3:00 am near Milan’s Sesto San Giovanni train station.

Identity checks had established “without a shadow of doubt” that the dead man was Amri, the minister said.

He hailed the two policemen as heroes. Trainee officer Luca Scata, 29, fired the fatal shot. His partner Christian Movio, 36, was hit in the shoulder and was in hospital awaiting surgery, but not in any danger.

“Italy can be really proud of these two officers,” Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said. “We remain on maximum alert, we will not underestimate the threat but what happened overnight shows citizens that the state is there for them.”

Amri’s death comes as German police arrested two brothers on suspicion of planning to attack a shopping mall, while authorities in Australia and Indonesia said Christmas terror plots had been foiled.

Amri had been missing since escaping after Monday’s attack in central Berlin.

He had links to Italy, having arrived on a migrant boat in 2011 during the “Arab Spring.”

Shortly after his arrival he was sent to prison for starting a fire in a refugee centre. He was released in 2015 and made his way to Germany, taking advantage of Europe’s open borders, as he did on his return to Italy.

Milan police chief Antonio De Iesu said Amri had arrived in Italy after traveling through France. German police said the Tunisian had steered the 40-ton truck in the attack after finding his fingerprints inside the cab, next to the body of its registered Polish driver, who was killed with a gunshot to the head.

A 100,000 euro ($104,000) reward had been offered for information leading to suspect Amri’s arrest.

In Tunisia, a brother of the fugitive had appealed to him to surrender and said, “If my brother is behind the attack, I say to him ‘You dishonor us.’”

German officials voiced relief that Amri had been found. Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she is “proud of how calmly most people reacted” to the country’s deadliest attack in years.

But her assuring message failed to dampen furious criticism of security lapses and bungling in the investigation.