Dragnet out for market slayer
French shooter cried, ‘Allahuakbar!’
The manhunt continued Wednesday for a radicalized Islamist who yelled “God is great!” in Arabic as he opened fire at a French Christmas market — killing at least two people and wounding about a dozen others.
Cherif Chekatt, 29, who had been on an intelligence services watch list as a potential security risk, may have chosen the market in his hometown of Strasbourg for its religious symbolism, Paris prosecutor Remy Heitz said.
“Considering the target, his way of operating, his profile and the testimonies of those who heard him yell ‘Allahu Akbar,’ the antiterrorist police has been called into action,” Heitz told reporters.
Senior Interior Ministry official Laurent Nuñez said police had sought to arrest Chekatt hours before the shooting, in connection with an attempted murder and armed robbery.
He was not at his home — where some explosives, a rifle and several knives were found — but five other people, including his father and two brothers, were detained, authorities said.
President Trump seized on the attack as another reason to fund a wall on America’s Mexican border, although Chekatt is a French native. “Another very bad terror attack in France. We are going to strengthen our borders even more. [Sen. Minority Leader] Chuck [Schumer] and [expected new House Speaker] Nancy [Pelosi] must give us the votes to get additional Border Security!” the commander in chief tweeted.
In addition to the two dead, a third person was left brain dead but was being kept alive, Heitz said.
Thai tourist Anupong Suebsamarn, 45, the owner of a noodle factory, was killed in the attack while traveling with his wife, according to the Thai Foreign Ministry.
His uncle told the Thai news site, Khao Sod, that the couple had initially planned to be in Paris, but the yellow vest protests there caused them to change plans and go to Strasbourg instead.
The identities of the other person killed and the one left brain dead were not released.
Among the wounded was Antonio Megalizzi, 28, an Italian radio journalist who was shot in the head. He was in Strasbourg on Sunday to follow the European Parliamentary session.
The gunman struck late Tuesday, just as the Christmas market in the historic city was shutting down. He was shot in the arm during a gunfight with security forces but managed to elude a police dragnet and bragged about his exploits to the driver of a cab that he commandeered, Heitz said.
The cabby told police that Chek- att ordered him to whisk him out of the city center. Officials think he may have slipped into Germany. France raised its security threat to the highest alert level, tightening controls along its border with Germany as elite commandos backed by choppers hunted for the suspect.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the US-based Site intelligence group, which monitors jihadist sites online, said ISIS supporters were celebrating.
French and German authorities painted a portrait of Chekatt as a serial offender with more than two dozen convictions in France, Germany and Switzerland and has served about four years in various jails.