French authorities arrested five in hunt for Strasbourg Christmas market attack suspect Cherif Chekatt
French authorities detained five people as they hunted Wednesday for a suspected extremist who sprayed gunfire at one of Europe’s most famous Christmas markets in the eastern city of Strasbourg. The attack left at least two people dead and 14 wounded, including seven who were in serious condition.
The government raised the security alert level and sent police reinforcements to Strasbourg, where some 350 security forces are searching for the assailant. The French Interior Ministry said earlier on Wednesday that three people were killed in the attack, and it was not immediately clear why local officials in Strasbourg put the death toll at one less.
Police said the shooter was wounded in a gunfight with soldiers after the Tuesday night attack but escaped, and a top official said he might have escaped to neighboring Germany.
Officials confirmed on Wednesday that the suspect was 29-year-old Cherif Chekatt, a Strasbourg resident with a police record in France and Germany who had been flagged for extremism. Police detained five people in overnight searches around the city, Laurent Nunez, secretary of state for the Interior Ministry, said on France-Inter radio. The hunt for Chekatt continued, however.
A law enforcement source told CBS News on Tuesday that the attacker used a long gun in his siege on the Christmas market. His home was raided Tuesday morning in relation to a previous murder investigation, but officers failed to apprehend him in that raid.
French prosecutors said a terrorism investigation was opened after the shooting, though authorities have not announced a motive for the bloodshed.
Nunez said eight of the injured were in serious condition, and the city mayor said some had head wounds.
Peter Fritz, an eyewitness, told CBS News partner network BBC News that he was in the area when the shooting broke out. “I saw a person with apparently two shots into the head lying on the bridge here,” he said. “We tried to engage in resuscitation activities. After 45 minutes, we stopped the resuscitation effort because a doctor told us over the phone that it is senseless.”
Other witnesses described shots and screaming after the gunman opened fire at the Christmas market Tuesday evening in a city that’s home to the European Parliament and considers itself a capital of Europe — and promotes itself as the “capital of Christmas.” For several hours swaths of the city were under lockdown.
Source: CBS
