Suspected gunman in French attack has long police record
STRASBOURG, France — A massive manhunt involving hundreds of police and soldiers was underway Wednesday for a suspected extremist who yelled “God is great!” in Arabic during a shooting attack around one of Europe’s most famous Christmas markets. The assault in the eastern French city of Strasbourg killed two, left one person brain-dead and injured 12 others, authorities said.
Police union officials identified the suspected assailant as Frenchman Cherif Chekatt, 29, who was monitored as a suspected religious radical by the French intelligence services. Two officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to publicly discuss details of the ongoing investigation.
The suspect’s parents and two brothers, also known for radicalism, have been detained, according to a judicial official.
The government raised the security alert level and sent police reinforcements to Strasbourg, where 720 members of security forces were involved in the search. A terrorism investigation was opened, but the motive of the attack is unclear.
The suspect’s more than two dozen convictions, including bank robbery, also involve crimes in Germany and Switzerland, according to court documents. The German government said it has stepped up controls on the country’s border with France following the attack.
The U.S. government, among others, warned citizens in the area to be vigilant. The city is home to the European Parliament and considers itself a capital of Europe — and promotes itself as the “capital of Christmas.”
Prosecutor Remy Heitz said the suspect was shot in the arm during an exchange of fire with French soldiers during his rampage in the city center Tuesday. He then took a taxi to another part of the city, boasting of the attack to the driver. There, he exchanged more gunfire with police and disappeared.
Heitz said the man attacked his victims with a handgun and a knife. Previously, French authorities had said the assailant killed three people, but Heitz said two people were confirmed dead while the third was brain-dead. Also, 12 people were injured, six of them gravely.
Witnesses described shots and screams after the gunman opened f i re around the Christmas market Tuesday evening. They also reported that the assailant yelled “God is great!” in Arabic during the attack, the prosecutor added. For several hours swaths of the city were under lockdown.
Senior Interior Ministry official Laurent Nunez said the suspect had been radicalized in prison and had been monitored by French intelligence services since his release in late 2015, because of his suspected religious extremism.
Nunez said on FranceInter radio that police sought to arrest the man on Tuesday morning, hours before the shooting, in relation to an attempted murder. He was not at home but five other people were detained, authorities said.
Heitz said police seized a grenade, a rifle and knives during the operation.
A neighbor, who asked not to be named because the gunman was still at large, said he was rarely home.