Strasbourg market attack death toll rises to four
As another victim succumbs to injuries, investigators examine whether the main suspect had help.
STRASBOURG, France — A fourth person died Friday from wounds suffered in an attack on the Christmas market in Strasbourg, as investigators worked to establish whether the main suspect had help while on the run.
The prosecutor’s office announced the death three days after the attack in the eastern French city and a day after the suspected gunman was shot and killed by police.
Although they did not clarify their announcement, prosecutors appeared to suggest that the person who died Friday had been one of 12 listed as wounded in the shooting and not another victim described as brain dead.
Paris prosecutor Remy Heitz, who handles terrorism cases throughout France, said at a news conference that seven people were in police custody, including four family members of attack suspect Cherif Chekatt and two other people who were detained Thursday night.
Chekatt, 29, was shot dead Thursday during a police operation in Strasbourg’s Neudorf neighborhood.
“We want to reconstruct the past 48 hours in order to find out whether he got some support,” Heitz said.
The Strasbourg shooting was the latest in a series of deadly attacks that have claimed more than 200 lives in France since 2015.
On Friday the Christmas market reopened for the first time since the attack amid tight security.
Interior Minister Christophe Castaner attended the reopening and had a stroll to meet with shopkeepers.
Access to the market has been reduced while extra police officers and military personnel have been deployed to the site, in addition to private security guards.
“This Christmas market is part of our history. It’s part of our common events and belongs to all the French people,” Castaner said. “And this morning, we wanted to show, as we walked down the lanes, that we always know how to get our head up again.”
Heitz gave more details about the police operation that led to Chekatt’s death Thursday evening after a two-day manhunt.
After police received two crucial tips from Neudorf residents, three officers patrolling the neighborhood spotted a man fitting the suspect’s description. He noticed their vehicle and tried unsuccessfully to enter a building. When officers identified themselves, Chekatt turned around and opened fire.
“A projectile hit the vehicle above the left rear door. Two police officers responded, shooting several times, and killed him,” Heitz said.
Investigators said they found a gun, a knife and ammunition on Chekatt’s body.
The immediate aftermath of the shootout between French security forces and the suspect was caught on camera from across the street, with video showing armed officers at the scene and the body of the man slumped in a doorway. More officers arrive soon after, followed by crime scene investigators, the video shows.
The Paris prosecutor’s office formally identified the slain man as Chekatt, a Strasbourg-born man with a long history of convictions for various crimes, including robberies. Chekatt also had been on a watch list of potential extremists. He had his first conviction at 13, and had 26 more by the time he died.
He served jail time in France, Germany and Switzerland.
Witnesses said the gunman shouted “God is great!” in Arabic and sprayed gunfire from a security zone near the Christmas market on Tuesday.
Security forces wounded the man in the arm, but he escaped in a taxi.