Strasbourg Christmas Market Shooting Suspect Killed, Interior Minister Confirms
23:12 13.12.2018(updated 01:13 14.12.2018)
The suspect in Strasbourg Christmas market shooting was killed in a shootout Thursday evening with French police.
Before the death was confirmed, reports emerged of gunshots ringing out and a police helicopter flying over the La Meinau district of Strasbourg, Reuters reported. There were three to four gunshots reported.
Right after the incident, a police source reported that the suspected Strasbourg shooter Cherif Chekatt had been neutralised during the police operation. Later, French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner confirmed that the man suspected of killing three people in Strasbourg on Tuesday had been killed by the law enforcement units.
The minister explained that three police officers tried to detain a man who they believed to be Cherif Chekatt. He fired on them and the police officers responded with fire and killed him.
"During the apprehension, [the suspect] scuffled with police… The law enforcement officers have immediately responded and neutralized the aggressor. A have informed the president of the republic and the prime minister [about the developments]," Castaner told a press conference.
Later, SITE group reported that a Daesh terrorist organisation's* outlet claimed that the Strasbourg shooter was a group's operative.
The Strasbourg shooter was earlier identified as a 29-year-old local man known to security services. He killed two people and a third person was left brain-dead. After being confronted by soldiers, the suspect fled.
Earlier, Castaner said hundreds of security personnel had been mobilized to search for the suspect. He also added that the suspect was first charged with a crime at the age of 13.
*A terrorist group outlawed in Russia and many other countries.
© Sputnik
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