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Police hunt gunman after shooting near Strasbourg Christmas market

Updated 13:30 A gunman is on the run after at least two people were killed when shots were fired ...
Newstalk
Newstalk

20.14 11 Dec 2018


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Police hunt gunman after shoot...

Police hunt gunman after shooting near Strasbourg Christmas market

Newstalk
Newstalk

20.14 11 Dec 2018


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Updated 13:30

A gunman is on the run after at least two people were killed when shots were fired near a Christmas market in Strasbourg, French police have said.

Twelve other people were injured when gunshots were heard just after 8.00pm in Rue des Orfevres - near the market in Place Kleber, which attracts millions of tourists each year.

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One person is said to have been left 'brain dead' following the shooting, while several others are seriously injured.

Authorities on Wednesday said the shooter shouted 'Allahu Akbar' during the attack.

Police exchanged gunfire with the suspect, police confirmed an hour after the incident started.

However, the a major manhunt is underway after the gunman fled the scene.

Authorities have now identified a suspect and are working to track him down.

Suspect

The suspected gunman - referred to as 'Chérif C' by officials - is thought to have been born in Strasbourg, and is well known to police and security services.

Paris public prosecutor Rémy Heitz said the suspect has 27 convictions across France, Germany and Switzerland, and has been in prison several times. 

He was known to authorities as someone who had potentially been radicalised, and was classified and monitored accordingly. 

Mr Heitz also told reporters that witnesses heard the attacker call out 'Allahu Akbar'.

Earlier, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said the country's security forces have been fully mobilised to track the suspect down.

350 police officers have been assigned to the manhunt, supported by two helicopters.

Officials in France have raised the threat level and also increased border security.

In this image made from video, emergency services arrive on the scene of a Christmas market in Strasbourg, France | Image: AP/Press Association Images

The French counter terrorism prosecutor is monitoring the situation, his office said, although the motive for the attack was not immediately clear.

A terror investigation has been opened for murder and attempted murder in relation with a terrorist enterprise, the French prosecutor's office said, as they confirmed he is heading to Strasbourg.

Emmanuel Foulon, a press officer for the European Parliament, which is based two miles away, was in the square at the time and said there was panic and everyone got to the ground in restaurants around the square.

Strasbourg residents were told to remain inside by the Ministry of the Interior.

Several MEPs and journalists working inside the European Parliament said they were on lockdown inside the building, which is a few kilometres from the square.

Irish MEP Martina Anderson was in the area when the shooting happened.

She explained: "I heard over six shots, and at that stage there was chaos, confusion.

"Everyone was running - it was pandemonium".

Malta MEP Roberta Metsola said she was on lockdown and Maltese journalists and her assistants were safe.

Thorbjorn Jagland, secretary general of the Council of Europe, also located in Strasbourg, advised "all staff and visitors to stay at home or indoors".

French president Emmanuel Macron is being kept informed of the situation and sent the interior minister to the eastern French city, an Elysee palace official said.

Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, said his thoughts are with the victims.

The Irish embassy in Paris is advising people in the area to follow the advice of the local authorities.

Strasbourg's Christmas market is one of the oldest in Europe, with 300 wooden stalls set up in the city's historic centre.

France remains on high alert following a series of Islamic State inspired attacks in 2015 and 2016, which killed more than 200 people.


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