Strasbourg gunman shot dead by French police: source
More than 700 French security forces had been hunting for 29-year-old Cherif Chekatt since the bloodshed on Tuesday night.
A policeman patrols in the rue des Grandes Arcades in Strasbourg, eastern France, after a shooting breakout, on December 11, 2018. – A gunman killed at least three people and seriously injured another 12 near the famed Christmas market in the French city of Strasbourg before fleeing the scene, security officials said. Police launched a manhunt after the killer opened fire at around 7pm local time (1800 GMT), sending crowds of evening shoppers fleeing for safety. (Photo by SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP)
French police on Thursday shot dead a gunman who had been on the run since killing three people at Strasbourg’s popular Christmas market, a source said.
More than 700 French security forces had been hunting for 29-year-old Cherif Chekatt since the bloodshed on Tuesday night. The source said he was shot and killed by police in the Neudorf area of the city.
Police in several European countries had earlier joined the manhunt for Chekatt, a Strasbourg native.
He was believed to have been injured after exchanging fire with soldiers during the attack, but managed to escape and had not been seen since getting out of a taxi in Neudorf.
Authorities published Chekatt’s picture late Wednesday in a bid to track the career criminal who has at least 27 convictions in four European countries.
Police described him as dangerous and urged people not to approach him.
A fifth person was detained by police for questioning on Thursday, in addition to the suspect’s parents and two brothers who have been in custody since Wednesday.
Interior Minister Christophe Castaner announced that the Strasbourg Christmas market would reopen on Friday.
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed “the solidarity of the whole country” towards the victims as he arrived for a European summit in Brussels.
“It is not only France that has been hit… but a great European city as well,” he added, referring to the seat of the European parliament in the eastern French city that lies on the border with Germany.
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