PARIS — French security forces were trying to catch the suspected Strasbourg gunman dead or alive, an official said Thursday, two days after an attack near the city's Christmas market.

Local authorities, meanwhile, increased the death toll to three. The attack wounded 13 others, including five in serious condition, the prefecture of the Strasbourg region said.

More than 700 officers were involved in the manhunt for 29-year-old Cherif Chekatt, who had been flagged for extremism, government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux told CNews television.

Police have distributed a photo of Chekatt, who was wounded in an exchange of fire with security forces, with the warning: "Individual dangerous, above all do not intervene."

The government raised the terror alert level nationwide and deployed 1,800 additional soldiers across France to help patrol streets and secure crowded events.

Griveaux also called on the "yellow vest" protesters not to take to the streets, as some members of the movement have planned a fifth round of demonstrations on Saturday across France to demand tax relief.

Strasbourg was in mourning, with candles lit and flowers left at the site of the attack. The Christmas market was closed at least through Thursday, authorities said.

On Wednesday evening, people prayed and sang in the nearby Protestant Church Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune.

Pastor Philippe Eber said this is a moment "to think of those who died in this city because of violence. We also are thinking about all of those who weep for them, the families."

Strasbourg resident Tassia Konstantinidis said "it's important to have a period of mourning and to remember the victims."

The dead included a Thai tourist, 45-year-old Anupong Suebsamarn, according to the Thai Foreign Ministry.

Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said one Italian was among the wounded, in critical condition. The Europhonica radio consortium said Antonio Megalizzi, 28, was in Strasbourg to follow the session of the European Parliament.

French authorities said that the suspect, born in Strasbourg, had run-ins with police starting at age 10 and his first conviction was at age 13.

Chekatt had been convicted 27 times, mostly in France but also in Switzerland and Germany, for crimes including armed robbery. He had been flagged for extremism and was on a watch list. </s> Hundreds of security forces have combed eastern France for a 29-year-old man suspected of opening fire near Strasbourg’s famous Christmas market.

Tuesday night’s attack at the Christmas market in Strasbourg killed two people, left a third brain-dead and injured 12, and was a stark reminder to a nation wounded by previous assaults that terrorism remains a threat, even as anti-government protests roil the country.

National police distributed a photo of the wounded fugitive, identified as Cherif Chekatt, with the warning: “Individual dangerous, above all do not intervene.”

France raised its three-stage threat index to the highest level and bolstered troops around France.

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner told politicians that the French native, born in Strasbourg, had run-ins with police starting at age 10 and his first conviction at age 13.

Chekatt had been convicted 27 times, mostly in France but also in Switzerland and Germany, for crimes including armed robbery. He had been flagged for extremism and was on a watch list, but the interior minister said “the signs were weak”.

“It’s a large zone and the search is difficult,” senior Interior Ministry official Laurent Nunez said on France-Inter radio.

Strasbourg is on the border with Germany, where the suspect was convicted in 2016 of breaking into a dental practice and a pharmacy in two towns.

Prosecutor Remy Heitz said the man attacked with a handgun and a knife about 8pm local time on Tuesday, and was shot in the arm during an exchange of fire with soldiers during his rampage.

He then took a taxi to another part of the city, boasting of the attack to the driver, and later exchanged more gunfire with police and disappeared, Mr Heitz said.

Witnesses described shots and screams after the gunman opened fire and yelled “God is great!” in Arabic, the prosecutor added. Swaths of the city were under lockdown for hours.

The dead included a Thai tourist, 45-year-old Anupong Suebsamarn, according to Thai Foreign Ministry and the website of the Khao Sod newspaper.

It quoted his uncle as saying he and his wife had originally planned to visit Paris, but the protests there prompted them to change plans and go to Strasbourg instead.

One Italian was reported to be among the wounded.

Italian media said Antonio Megalizzi, 28, was in critical condition. Italian daily La Repubblica reported he was in Strasbourg to follow the session of the European Parliament.

After initially reporting that three people had died, authorities revised that and said one was brain-dead, while 12 people were wounded, six of them gravely.

About 720 police, soldiers and Swat team officers in Strasbourg were being reinforced with 500 more soldiers and another 1,300 in the coming days to guard public places, especially other Christmas markets, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said after a crisis meeting.

The attack in the heart of old Strasbourg, near its famous cathedral and within the Christmas market that draws many tourists, unsettled the border city that also is home to the European Parliament.

The German government said it had stepped up controls on the border with France but did not change its threat level.

“All terrorist attacks touch all of France, and it’s plain to see each of the attacks have hit a highly symbolic point or moment,” Mr Philippe told parliament.

He listed violence since 2015 that killed more than 200: at the Charlie Hebdo satiric newspaper, a Kosher store, restaurants, bars and a concert hall in Paris; along the famed seaside promenade in Nice; and even inside a church in a quiet suburb of the northern city of Rouen, among others.

Strasbourg’s Christmas market “is a family and brotherly celebration that speaks about hope and what unites us. It’s this celebration that was hit yesterday by a terrorist act,” he said.

The city was in mourning, with candles lit at the site of the attack, and the Christmas market was closed at least through Thursday, according to regional prefect Jean-Luc Marx.

The attack came as President Emmanuel Macron sought to take back control of the nation after a month of anti-government protests that have spread violence across the country.

It came only 24 hours after he broke a long public silence and appealed for calm amid the mushrooming “yellow vest” protest movement that seeks a better standard of living for ordinary citizens.

He offered a package of measures, but it was not clear if that would halt the weekend protests.

“The terrorist threat is still at the core of our nation’s life,” government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux quoted Mr Macron as saying at the weekly Cabinet meeting.

Interior Ministry official Mr Nunez said Chekatt had been radicalised in prison and had been monitored by French intelligence services since his release in late 2015, because of his suspected religious extremism.

Mr Nunez told France-Inter that police went to his apartment in an outer neighbourhood of Strasbourg on Tuesday morning. Authorities said he was not there, although five other people were detained.

Police seized a grenade, a rifle and knives in the operation, Mr Heitz said. </s> French security forces have said they are trying to catch the gunman suspected of attacking a Christmas market dead or alive.

The attack in Strasbourg left three people dead and wounded 13 others, including five who are in a serious condition.

More than 700 officers are involved in the manhunt for 29-year-old Cherif Chekatt, who had been flagged for extremism, government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux said. Prosecutors have opened a terror investigation into Tuesday’s attack.

Police have distributed a photo of Chekatt, who was wounded in an exchange of fire with security forces, with the warning: “Individual dangerous, above all do not intervene.”

The government raised the terror alert level nationwide and deployed 1,800 additional soldiers across France to help patrol streets and secure crowded events.

Mr Griveaux also called on the “yellow vest” protesters not to take to the streets, as some members of the movement have planned a fifth round of demonstrations on Saturday across France to demand tax relief.

Strasbourg was in mourning, with candles lit and flowers left at the site of the attack. The Christmas market was closed at least again on Thursday.

On Wednesday evening, people prayed and sang in the nearby Protestant Church Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune.

Pastor Philippe Eber said this is a moment “to think of those who died in this city because of violence. We also are thinking about all of those who weep for them, the families”.

Strasbourg resident Tassia Konstantinidis said “it’s important to have a period of mourning and to remember the victims”.

The dead included Thai tourist Anupong Suebsamarn, who was 45.

Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said one Italian was among the wounded, in critical condition. The Europhonica radio consortium said Antonio Megalizzi, 28, was in Strasbourg to follow the session of the European Parliament when he was shot.

French authorities said that the suspect, born in Strasbourg, had run-ins with police from the age of 10 and his first conviction was at 13.

Chekatt had been convicted 27 times, mostly in France but also in Switzerland and Germany, for crimes including armed robbery. He had been flagged for extremism and was on a watch list. </s> French police are continuing their desperate search for the Strasbourg shooter two days after he turned a quaint Christmas market into a bloodbath.

In total 720 police and gendarmes have been scouring a huge section of eastern France using helicopter sweeps, roadside checks, border surveillance and house searches, but have uncovered no trace of 29-year-old Cherif Chekatt.

Another 500 troops have been sent to guard public places including Christmas markets amid fears Chekatt will attack again, with 1,300 more due to join soon.

There are also fears that he could have fled across the border into Germany, where he has a history of arrests.

Officers have warned that Chekatt, who has been convicted 27 times starting when he was just 13, should be considered dangerous and not to approach him.

Meanwhile it was revealed that 45-year-old Anupong Suebsamarn, who was shot dead at the market, had not intended to be in Strasbourg at the time.

Suebsamarn had been planning to go to Paris with his wife, but had changed plans at the last minute because of the Yellow Vest protests, which have seen some of the city's busiest landmarks paralysed by rioting.

After initially reporting that three people had died, authorities revised that and said one was brain-dead, while 12 people were wounded, six of them gravely.

One Italian, 28-year-old Antonio Megalizzi, was reported to be in critical condition.

Italian daily La Repubblica reported he was in Strasbourg to follow the session of the European Parliament.

Meanwhile L'Est Républicain reported that two people from eastern France were injured in the attack, one of whom was shot in the back of the neck and was in intensive care.

The other is an 18-year-old woman who has been operated on and is now recovering.

Strasbourg-based art collective Mimir told Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace that two of their members, both musicians, were injured near the Savons d'Hélène café where they were performing.

One of them, a percussionist, was shot in the neck and is in a coma. The second, a guitarist, was also injured, but less severely.

A third man, also with links to Mimir is seriously wounded in the head.

Amid the hunt for Chekatt, France raised its three-stage threat index to the highest level and bolstered troops around France.

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said that the French native, born in Strasbourg, had run-ins with police starting at age 10.

Chekatt was mostly convicted in France but also in Switzerland and Germany, for crimes including armed robbery.

He had been flagged for extremism and was on a watch list, but the interior minister said 'the signs were weak'.

'It's a large zone and the search is difficult,' senior Interior Ministry official Laurent Nunez said on France-Inter radio.

Strasbourg is on the border with Germany, where the suspect was convicted in 2016 of breaking into a dental practice and a pharmacy in two towns.

German lawyer Thomas Röder, who served as Chekatt's public defender, told Bild that he was a very religious man, but otherwise did not seem radicalised.

He said: 'The only thing that attracted attention was his very religious attitude. He made a point of never taking alcohol or illegal drugs.

'It was also important to him that he did not have to eat pork in the prison. My client was actually a very sociable type, often joking.'

Prosecutor Remy Heitz said the man attacked with a handgun and a knife about 8pm local time on Tuesday, and was shot in the arm during an exchange of fire with soldiers during his rampage.

He then took a taxi to another part of the city, boasting of the attack to the driver, and later exchanged more gunfire with police and disappeared, Mr Heitz said.

Witnesses described shots and screams after the gunman opened fire and yelled 'God is great!' in Arabic, the prosecutor added. Swaths of the city were under lockdown for hours.

The attack in the heart of old Strasbourg, near its famous cathedral and within the Christmas market that draws many tourists, unsettled the border city that also is home to the European Parliament.

The German government said it had stepped up controls on the border with France but did not change its threat level.

'All terrorist attacks touch all of France, and it's plain to see each of the attacks have hit a highly symbolic point or moment,' Mr Philippe told parliament.

He listed violence since 2015 that killed more than 200: at the Charlie Hebdo satiric newspaper, a Kosher store, restaurants, bars and a concert hall in Paris; along the famed seaside promenade in Nice; and even inside a church in a quiet suburb of the northern city of Rouen, among others.

Strasbourg's Christmas market 'is a family and brotherly celebration that speaks about hope and what unites us. It's this celebration that was hit yesterday by a terrorist act,' he said.

The city was in mourning, with candles lit at the site of the attack, and the Christmas market was closed at least through Thursday, according to regional prefect Jean-Luc Marx.

The attack came as President Emmanuel Macron sought to take back control of the nation after a month of anti-government protests that have spread violence across the country.

It came only 24 hours after he broke a long public silence and appealed for calm amid the mushrooming 'yellow vest' protest movement that seeks a better standard of living for ordinary citizens.

He offered a package of measures, but it was not clear if that would halt the weekend protests.

'The terrorist threat is still at the core of our nation's life,' government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux quoted Mr Macron as saying at the weekly Cabinet meeting.

Interior Ministry official Mr Nunez said Chekatt had been radicalised in prison and had been monitored by French intelligence services since his release in late 2015, because of his suspected religious extremism.

Mr Nunez told France-Inter that police went to his apartment in an outer neighbourhood of Strasbourg on Tuesday morning. Authorities said he was not there, although five other people were detained.

Police seized a grenade, a rifle and knives in the operation, Mr Heitz said.

Yellow Vest protesters urged to stay off the streets The French government has urged Yellow Vest protesters to hold off another round of demonstrations scheduled to take place in Paris this weekend. Spokesman Benjamin Griveaux said ministers decided against banning the marches outright, but asked people to be 'reasonable' amid a massive manhunt for Strasbourg shooter Cherif Chekatt. It comes after conspiracy theorists accused the government of staging the terror attack in order to quash the Yellow Vest movement. Yellow vest protesters clash with police firing tear gas during demonstrations in Paris last Saturday. French authorities have urged activists to cancel a march this weekend Writing in online forums, one protester said: 'You'll see next week there won't be a single yellow vest. Well played, Macron.' Another added: 'Coincidence, chance? Or just manipulation!', while a third said: 'They want to create fear so that people don't take to the streets.' President Emmanuel Macron has already offered the marchers a £9billion package of concessions including pay rises and tax cuts. But many complained that the measures were too little, too late, and vowed to continue with weeks of protests, which have often turned violent. 'Our security forces have been deployed extensively these past few weeks,' Griveaux said, while insisting that 'it's not up to us to say if the movement should be called off or not.' The request comes after conspiracy theorists accused the government of staging the Strasbourg attack in order to quash their movement In the wake of the Strasbourg attack, 'it would be better if everyone could go about their business calmly on Saturday, before the year-end celebrations with their families, instead of demonstrating and putting our security forces to work once again.' Last Saturday nearly 90,000 police were mobilised across the country for the protests, with 8,000 officers and a dozen armoured vehicles deployed in the capital where scores of stores, museums and monuments were closed. But protesters still smashed windows, looted stores and burned dozens of cars in many parts of the city. </s> French hunt for possible accomplices of Strasbourg attacker

STRASBOURG, France (AP) — French police have killed the man who they believed attacked Strasbourg's Christmas market but investigators kept digging Friday for possible accomplices in a city known for a high concentration of potential extremists.

A fourth victim of Tuesday night's attack on the biggest Christmas market in France died Friday. The dead included a Thai tourist and a 29-year-old Italian journalist. A dozen other people were wounded.

The market reopened Friday in a bid to reclaim a festive spirit after being closed for two days after the attack. French President Emmanuel Macron paid a visit, arriving after a European summit in Brussels to offer his condolences to the wounded and victims' families and to salute security forces. He spoke with the three police officers who less than 24 hours earlier shot and killed Cherif Chekatt, the attack suspect.

For three days, Macron has faced back-to-back national emergencies, dealing with the Christmas market attack and in the midst of a month of grassroots protests over the cost of living that have grown increasingly violent and have devastated parts of the French capital.

The government has implored the French not to take to the streets Saturday, evoking the Strasbourg tragedy and the security situation that has strapped soldiers and police.

Chekatt, the 29-year-old Strasbourg native, was killed Thursday night in a confrontation with three police officers in his childhood neighborhood after a massive manhunt.

The depth of his radicalization and connections remained unclear, but his path seemed to reflect an increasingly common hybrid European extremist who moves from delinquency to sowing terror.

The Islamic State group's Amaq news agency claimed Chekatt was a "soldier" of the group but Interior Minister Christophe Castaner rejected the claim as "totally opportunistic."

Investigators are now trying to identify "eventual accomplices or co-authors who could have helped or encouraged him in preparing his move into action," prosecutor Remy Heitz, in charge of terrorism cases in France, told reporters at a news conference Friday.

He said seven people were in custody, including four of Chekatt's family members and three in his "close entourage" — two of them detained Thursday night.

"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. Like other attack sites, the Christmas market was heavy with symbolism.

"This Christmas market is part of our history. It's part of our common events and belongs to all the French people," Castaner said during a walk-through at its reopening. "And this morning, we wanted to show, as we walked down the lanes, that we always know how to get our head up again."

Macron suggested while in Brussels that authorities were working to clarify why Chekatt was not stopped beforehand. He had been on a French intelligence watch list for radicalism and was convicted 27 times for criminal offenses — the first time at age 13 — mainly in France but also in Germany and Switzerland.

French police tried and failed Tuesday morning to arrest him in a case of attempted homicide.

Macron told reporters Friday in Brussels that France should look at "the consequences" of any police failures and work on "what could be improved."

Extremism is not a new phenomenon in Strasbourg, where more than 200 people are on watch lists for potential radicalization or already radicalized, a Strasbourg police official told The Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity and that figure could not be officially confirmed.

Strasbourg's Christmas market has been a previous target. Ten suspected Islamic militants were convicted and sentenced to prison in December 2004 for their role in a foiled plot to blow up the market on New Year's Eve 2000.

Six youths from Strasbourg have been arrested after returning home from Middle East battle zones, part of a group of 14 reported to have left to join the jihad. As early as 2012, Strasbourg had harbored Islamic militant cells planning action elsewhere in France.

Heitz, the anti-terrorism prosecutor, provided more details about the police operation that led to Chekatt's death Thursday evening.

He said two crucial tips came in from residents in Strasbourg's Neudorf neighborhood. Three officers patrolling in Neudorf then spotted a man corresponding to the suspect's description. Noticing their marked police car, the suspect tried unsuccessfully to enter a building. When police officers identified themselves, Chekatt turned abruptly and opened fire on them.

Ganley reported from Paris. Samuel Petrequin in Paris and Angela Charlton in Brussels contributed. </s> A Muslim man, originally from Kabul, Afghanistan, left in a coma after Tuesday's shooting in Strasbourg, has died, his brother told Euronews.

Kamal Naghchband was a 45-year-old mechanic who has three children, said his brother, Mokhtar Naghchband.

He lived in France for 18 years and had French nationality, he added.

"We are bereaved because our city of Strasbourg, an exemplary city in terms of living together, was hit hard by a murderous act," said Eyup Şahin, regional president of Strasbourg's Eyyûb Sultan Mosque, in a statement.

At around 20h CET on Tuesday a single gunman opened fire on a street near Strasbourg's famous Christmas market.

Two people died in the attack and another was declared brain dead, Paris prosecutor Remi Heitz said.

At least 12 people were wounded, six seriously.

The gunman, who is on the run, is on France's "fiche S" watchlist of individuals thought to pose a security risk to the country.

French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner announced that the country's "Vigipirate" security threat level would be raised in light of the attack.

Do you like what Euronews does? Click to sign up for our WhatsApp newsletter, a twice-daily selection of the top stories from around Europe. </s> Hundreds of police officers are hunting a gunman after three people were killed and 12 others wounded in a shooting in the eastern French city of Strasbourg.

 The suspect, who is known to security services, and is reportedly named Cherif Chekatt, a French citizen of Moroccan descent, escaped after exchanging fire with soldiers and armed police on Tuesday. He is believed to be injured.

 The shooting happened close to a popular Christmas market near one of the central squares, Place Kléber.

 France’s counterterrorism prosecutor has opened an investigation.

 However, the motive for the incident remains unclear.



 “He fought twice with our security forces,” French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said.

 Confirming that three people had died, Mr Castaner said that border controls had been strengthened and security at all Christmas markets would be stepped up, with 350 security agents hunting for the gunman.

 He added that France had raised its security alert level to “emergency attack”.

 Six of those reportedly injured on Tuesday were said to be in a serious condition, while six others suffered light injuries, police said.

 Police added that the 29-year-old suspect was born in Strasbourg and was already known to the security services as a possible terrorist threat. </s> A fifth victim of last month’s attack on British Houses of Parliament has died in hospital, the Metropolitan Police said on Friday.

Romanian tourist Andreea Cristea, on a visit to the British capital, died Thursday, detectives investigating the March 22 incident confirmed.

After being hit by a truck crossing Westminster Bridge toward parliament, she fell into the River Thames and was later rescued from the water.

Khalid Masood drove at high speed across the bridge and then stabbed a police officer at the parliament estate.

He was then shot and killed by armed police.

In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said Cristea had been receiving medical treatment in hospital following the attack, but life support was withdrawn on Thursday. </s> The man suspected of killing at least three people and wounding 13 others at Strasbourg’s famed Christmas market has been killed by French police, following a shoot-out not far from the scene of Tuesday’s attack.

Cherif Chekatt, 29, was shot dead on Thursday evening, two days after he first disappeared sparking a massive manhunt involving hundreds of police officers, soldiers and anti-terror specialists from three European countries.

French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said police recognized a man who looked like Chekatt walking on the street in Strasbourg’s Neudorf district on Thursday night and approached him. He opened fire on officers when they tried to question him, he said.

“As I am speaking to you, I am thinking about the victims and the wounded. I am thinking of those close to them. I am thinking of Strasbourg and France that was hit by this terrible attack,” Castaner said.

On Thursday, Strasbourg police said the death toll from the attack had risen to three, after one person succumbed to their injuries. Five people remain in serious condition with eight others suffering light injures.

The hunt prompted a curfew in the eastern French city near the German border and forced the country to raise its national security threat level to its highest status: “emergency terror attack.”

French prosecutors said the suspect shouted the Arabic phrase “Allahu Akbar,” meaning “God is greatest,” at the time of the attack.

“It’s relief for the people of Strasbourg to know that the attacker has been killed,” Strasbourg Mayor Roland Ries said, adding that the Christmas market would reopen on Friday.

The French National Police thanked the public for their assistance in finding Chekatt.

“Thank you for your alerts which allowed us to find the wanted individual,” the National Police said on Twitter.

Earlier on Thursday, Paris prosecutor’s office said that a fifth person was taken into custody in relation to the attack. “At this stage there are five people in custody,” a spokesperson said.

Authorities said Chekatt entered the perimeter of the market, one of the oldest in Europe, by the city’s Corbeau Bridge and started shooting and stabbing passers-by on the Rue des Orfevres around 8 p.m., when many were in the middle of their Christmas shopping.

Anti-terror police flooded the market and tried to arrest the suspected gunman. He exchanged fire with security forces, suffering an injury to his arm. The suspected gunman then jumped into a taxi and fled the scene, Heitz said.

On Thursday, French police evacuated buildings and cordoned off the area close to where Chekatt had fled. The gunman’s father, mother and two brothers were also questioned by police, a source close to the investigation told CNN.

Checkatt was already known to security services as a possible threat, police said. He has an extensive criminal background that includes 27 convictions in France, Germany and Switzerland, mostly for acts of robbery and violence.

A spokeswoman for the Swiss Federal Police, Cathy Maret, told CNN that Chekatt was well known to authorities there, having been arrested and convicted several times in Switzerland for crimes such as break-ins, theft and violence. He was not on their radar as a radical Islamist or for narcotics violations, she said.

In 2017, he was deported from Germany to France after the Interior Ministry in the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg confirmed he had been convicted of break-ins and serious theft in 2016 and spent time in a German prison. The German Federal Criminal Office said the suspect was not known in Germany as a radical Islamist.

However, Chekatt was known to French prison officials for being radicalized and for his proselytizing behavior in detention in 2015, Paris prosecutor Heitz said, adding that he had been incarcerated multiple times.

He was also on a French watch list called a “Fiche S” surveillance file. The “Fiche S” is a French terror and radicalization watch list that includes thousands of people, some of whom are under active surveillance, meaning they are on law enforcement’s radar.

Hours before the attack, French gendarmes tried to bring Chekatt in for questioning but found he wasn’t home, a spokesperson for France’s National Police told CNN earlier this week, without providing further details.

Chekatt was born in Strasbourg, according to CNN affiliate BFM.
An Italian journalist to the European Parliament who was wounded during a terrorist attack in Strasbourg, France, dies of his injuries, raising the death toll to four.