Hundreds of French anti-terror police are hunting for a fugitive gunman who attacked Christmas shoppers at a market in the eastern city of Strasbourg while shouting "Allahu akbar" (God is greatest), officials said Wednesday. The attack in the heart of the medieval city as the annual Christmas market was closing on Tuesday night left two dead, 13 injured and crowds of traumatised witnesses.
The suspect, a 29-year-old Strasbourg native identified as Cherif Chekatt, opened fire with a handgun and stabbed passers-by during his rampage, France's anti-terror prosecutor Remy Heitz said Wednesday. Chekatt, who was on a watchlist for suspected religious extremists, had already been sentenced 27 times in France, Germany and Switzerland for crimes including violence and robbery.
His mother and father, as well as two brothers, were detained for questioning Wednesday. Chekatt was flagged by French security forces in 2015 as a possible extremist while in prison, after he "called for practising a radical form of religion," deputy interior minister Laurent Nunez told France Inter radio Wednesday.
He lived in a rundown housing estate a short drive from the Christmas market, which draws some two million people each year to its wooden chalets selling festive decorations, mulled wine and food. "His family has lived around here for a while, but he lived on his own nearby," Zach, a 22-year-old in the Poteries area of Strasbourg, told AFP. "He was discreet, not a thug."
Much of the centre of the city as well as the European Parliament building were locked down through the night as teams of police and soldiers searched for the gunman. On Wednesday, the market was shut and theatre performances and other shows were cancelled as reinforcements joined a manhunt that also involved police in neighbouring Germany.
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