A lone gunman who killed four people in a shooting near a Christmas market in Strasbourg is still on the run following the deadly attack.
Benoit Tessier and Christian Hartmann
December 11 2018 8:05 PM
A lone gunman who killed four people in a shooting near a Christmas market in Strasbourg is still on the run following the deadly attack.
Four people were left dead and at least 11 injured as police hunted for the man responsible.
The motive for the shooting was not immediately clear but, with France still on high alert after a wave of attacks commissioned or inspired by Islamic State militants since early 2015, an investigation was immediately opened by the counter-terrorism prosecutor.
Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said the gunman was known to security services, and the local prefecture said he had previously been identified as a danger to security.
French police has the gunman cornered and a shootout is underway at the location, a source close to the investigation told Reuters.
French prosecutors say a terror investigation has been opened into the shooting.
People in the city’s Neudorf area and Etoile park were told to stay where they were as officers hunted the shooter on the ground and from the air.
The European Parliament, which is sitting in Strasbourg this week, was put into lockdown.
« There were gunshots and people running everywhere, » one local shopkeeper told BFM TV. « It lasted about 10 minutes. »
Witness Peter Fritz said he tried to help a Thai tourist lying on the ground with an apparent head wound after hearing « two distinct noises » which he initially took to be firecrackers.
He told the BBC: « We tried our best to resuscitate him, we applied CPR, we dragged him into a restaurant close by and had help with some medical people from Germany, but it took more than 45 minutes for an ambulance to appear.
« After 45 minutes we were told over the phone by an emergency doctor that any further efforts would be futile. He’s still here in this restaurant but we have abandoned all hope for him.
