Death toll in Strasbourg, France, mass shootings rise as police try to catch attack suspect dead or alive
PARIS — French security forces were trying to catch the suspected Strasbourg shooter dead or alive, an official said on Thursday, two days after an attack near the city’s Christmas market.
Local authorities, meanwhile, raised the death toll to three. The attack left 13 injured, five of them in serious condition, said the prefecture of the Strasbourg region.
More than 700 officers were involved in the manhunt for Cherif Chekatt, 29, who had been flagged for extremism, government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux told CNews television.
Prosecutors have opened a terror investigation into Tuesday’s attack.
Police released a photo of Chekatt, who was injured in an exchange of fire with law enforcement, with the warning: “Dangerous individual, please do not intervene”.
The government has raised the terror alert level across the country and deployed 1,800 additional troops across France to help patrol the streets and secure crowded events.
Griveaux also called on “yellow vest” protesters not to take to the streets as some members of the movement planned a fifth round of protests across France on Saturday to demand tax breaks.
Strasbourg was in mourning, with candles lit and flowers left at the site of the attack. The Christmas market has been closed until at least Thursday, authorities said.
On Wednesday evening, people prayed and sang in the nearby Protestant church of Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune.
Pastor Philippe Eber said it was a time “to think of those who died in this city because of the violence. We also think of all those who mourn them, the families”.
Tassia Konstantinidis, a resident of Strasbourg, said that “it is important to have a period of mourning and to remember the victims”.
The dead included a Thai tourist, Anupong Suebsamarn, 45, according to the Thai Foreign Ministry.
Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said one Italian was among the injured, 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 the suspect, who was born in Strasbourg, had trouble with the police from the age of 10 and his first conviction dates back to 13 years.
Chekatt had been convicted 27 times, mainly 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.