France's interior minister on Friday dismissed a claim by the Islamic State group that a gunman who killed four people at a Christmas market in Strasbourg was one of its "soldiers", as investigators sought to understand his motives. Attending the reopening of the Christmas market, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said a Twitter post by the IS propaganda wing saying Cherif Chekatt was one of its "soldiers" was "completely opportunistic".
"We're dealing with a man who was consumed by evil," he told reporters after touring the famed market. President Emmanuel Macron was to visit later in the day after attending a European Union summit in Brussels, his office said.
Officials praised the massive public help and quick police reaction that led to the death of 29-year-old Chekatt, a career criminal with 27 convictions in four countries, late on Thursday. He was tracked down at around 9:00 pm (2000 GMT) when a police patrol spotted him on a street in the Neudorf district where he was last seen after his gun and knife attack on Tuesday night.
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