A massive manhunt was under way in northeastern France on Wednesday for a gunman who killed three people and wounded a dozen others at a Christmas market in the eastern city of Strasbourg.
PARIS (Reuters) – A massive manhunt was under way in northeastern France on Wednesday for a gunman who killed three people and wounded a dozen others at a Christmas market in the eastern city of Strasbourg.
France raised its security threat to the highest alert level, strengthened border controls and asked people around Strasbourg to stay put as and police searched for the suspect. German police also tightened border controls across the Rhine river, officials said.
Police identified the suspect as Strasbourg-born Cherif Chekatt, 29, who was known to the intelligence services as a potential security risk.
“The hunt is continuing,” Deputy Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on France Inter radio. Asked whether the suspect might have left France, he said: “That cannot be ruled out.