Gunman, viewed as threat, kills at least 2 in Strasbourg
PARIS— A single gunman — previously flagged by authorities as a potential threat — opened fire in the French city of Strasbourg on Tuesday, killing two people and wounding 12 others before fleeing from police, government officials said.
The gunman began shooting around 8 p.m. in downtown Strasbourg, near a popular Christmas market that attracts more than a million visitors every year. Hours after the attack, he remained on the loose.
Witnesses described scenes of panic as gunfire was heard, and fear afterward.
Some said on social media they had sheltered in shops and restaurants in central Strasbourg as police and the military patrolled the streets. “From my hotel window I saw passersby dragging someone who was injured and onlookers panicking,” Emmanuel Maurel, a member of European Parliament who saw the aftermath, wrote on Twitter. “Soldiers and police have cordoned off the area. We’re being told to stay in the hotel.”
In addition to the two people killed, six people were seriously wounded and six were lightly injured, the local prefecture said, in a statement. Before the attack, authorities had designated the gunman a possible security risk, it said.
Richard Corbett, a British member of European Parliament, tweeted that he was in a locked-down restaurant in the city centre before eventually being evacuated by police. On the walk back to his hotel, he said, he had “never seen the streets so deserted.”
Other members of European Parliament took refuge inside government buildings in other parts of the city, and remained there hours after the attack.
Charles Tannock, another British member of European Parliament, said he was inside the locked-down building.
“I’m safe but my heart & condolences are with the victims of this atrocity,” he tweeted.
Hundreds of spectators were confined to the Rhenus arena, the home of SIG Strasbourg, the city’s professional basketball team. Before they were evacuated, they rose from their seats and sang a rendition of the French national anthem, “La Marseillaise,” in honour of the victims of the attack.