Man suspected of Strasbourg terror attack is shot dead
FRENCH police have killed a suspect in their hunt for the gunman who killed three people near a Christmas market in Strasbourg on Tuesday.
The shooting occurred in the Neudorf neighbourhood, where police conducted a search earlier yesterday for Cherif Chekatt.
The 29-year-old was born in Strasbourg and had been named as the suspected Christmas market attacker.
The outrage left three people dead and wounded 13 others, including five who are in a serious condition.
More than 700 officers were involved in the manhunt for Chekatt and prosecutors have opened a terror investigation into the attack.
France’s Interior Minister said the prosecutor in charge of terror-related investigations was heading to the scene to confirm if the man killed by officers was the suspect.
Christophe Castaner said police had spotted an individual who matched the description of Chekatt walking down the road at 9pm.
Mr Castaner said: “They called to him and at that moment he turned to face the officers and opened fire.
“So they immediately riposted and neutralised the assailant.
“My thoughts are with the victims, the wounded, and their loved ones.
“They are also with the security forces who were deployed.” “I am proud of you,” he added. Yesterday the Paris prosecutor’s office said a fifth person had been arrested and placed in custody in connection with the investigation.
A spokesman said the man is a member of Chekatt’s “entourage” but not a family member and he was placed in custody.
The four others detained were Chekatt’s parents and two of his brothers.
Chekatt shouted “God is great” in Arabic and sprayed gunfire from a security zone near the Shooting suspect: Cherif Chekatt had been flagged by French authorities for extremism and was also included on a watch-list Christmas market. The French Government raised the terror alert level nationwide and deployed 1,800 additional soldiers to help patrol streets and secure crowded events.
The authorities also called on the “yellow vest” protesters not to take to the streets, as some members of the movement have planned a fifth round of demonstrations tomorrow across the country to demand tax relief.
Strasbourg’s Christmas market was closed again yesterday.
It will reopen to the public today.
On Wednesday people prayed and sang in the nearby Protestant Church Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune.
Pastor Philippe Eber said it was a moment “to think of those who died in this city because of violence”.
“We also are thinking about all of those who weep for them, the families,” he added.
The dead included Thai tourist Anupong Suebsamarn (45).
The authorities said that Chekatt had run-ins with police from the age of 10 and his first conviction was at 13.
He had been convicted 27 times, mostly in France but also in Switzerland and Germany, for crimes including armed robbery.
Chekatt had been flagged for extremism and was also on a watch-list.