Posted on December 12, 2018

Strasbourg Shooting: Police Appeal to Find Chérif Chekatt

BBC News, December 12, 2018

French police have issued a call for help to find the man suspected of opening fire near a Christmas market in Strasbourg.

Hundreds of police, soldiers and border agents on both sides of the Franco-German border are trying to find Chérif Chekatt, 29.

Two people died and 13 were injured in the gun attack in the eastern French city on Tuesday evening.

The gunman shouted “Allahu Akbar” (“God is greatest”) as he opened fire.

Chérif Chekatt was already known to the French authorities as someone who had been radicalised into following an extreme form of Islam while in prison for crimes including robbery.

Police say anyone who sees the “dangerous” suspect should not approach him, but instead call an emergency hotline.

How is the manhunt going?

France’s Interior Minister Christophe Castaner told the parliament that more than 700 police officers and other members of the security forces were searching for the gunman, who was injured in an exchange of fire with soldiers who were patrolling the Christmas market in Strasbourg when the attack occurred.

Across the nearby border, German police are also conducting searches after France’s Deputy Interior Minister, Laurent Nuñez, acknowledged that the gunman might no longer be in France.

Border agents are also checking vehicles crossing the Rhine river, which marks the Franco-German frontier, leading to long lines of traffic in both directions.

Mr Castaner said the country had moved to the highest level of alert, expanding police powers and increasing vigilance. He added that security at all Christmas markets would be stepped up.

The mayor of Strasbourg, Roland Ries, has said the Christmas market there will be closed on Wednesday and Thursday, with flags lowered to half-mast at the local town hall.

How did the attack unfold?

At about 20:00 local time (19:00 GMT) on Tuesday, a man opened fire close to Strasbourg’s famed Christmas market near one of the central squares, Place Kléber, which attracts thousands of visitors at this time of year.

France’s anti-terror prosecutor Rémy Heitz said two people were killed and one was left brain-dead in the hail of bullets. Twelve other people were wounded, six of them seriously, he added.

The suspect was armed with a gun and a knife and escaped the area after commandeering a taxi, Mr Heitz said.

As he fled he came into contact with four soldiers, Mr Heitz said, and began firing at them. The soldiers fired back, apparently hitting him in the arm.

The attacker boasted to the taxi driver that he had killed 10 people, and also said he had been injured during a firefight with soldiers.

He ordered the taxi driver to drop him in the vicinity of the police station in the Neudorf area.

When he got out the vehicle, he fired at police officers before escaping into the night.

Four people connected to the suspect had been detained overnight in Strasbourg, Mr Heitz said. Sources close to the investigation quoted by Reuters news agency said they were the suspect’s mother, father and two brothers.

What do we know about the suspect?

According to police, Chérif Chekatt was born in Strasbourg and was already known to the security services as a possible Islamist terrorist threat.

He was the subject of a “fiche S”, a watch list of people who represent a potential threat to national security.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Armed police secure the area after the deadly shooting incident on Tuesday

He has 27 convictions for crimes including robbery spanning France, Germany and Switzerland, and has spent considerable time in prison as a result.

Police were seeking him on Tuesday morning in connection with another case, but did not find him at home.

A search of his apartment in Neudorf revealed a grenade, a rifle, four knives – two of which were hunting knives – and ammunition.

Who are the victims?

Anupong Suebsamarn, 45, a tourist from Thailand, has been named by Thai media as one of the dead. He is believed to have been on holiday with his wife.

The Italian foreign ministry has said one of the injured is an Italian journalist who was covering the European parliament, but declined to confirm media reports that he was in a serious condition.

One soldier was slightly injured by a ricocheting bullet during an exchange of fire with the gunman.

Why is Strasbourg a target?

Strasbourg has been the target of jihadist plots in the past.

Not only does it have one of France’s oldest Christmas markets, but it is the official seat of the European Parliament. That parliament was in session at the time of Tuesday evening’s attack.

In 2000, the Christmas market was at the centre of a failed al-Qaeda plot. Ten Islamist militants were jailed four years later for their part in the planned New Year’s Eve attack.

However, MEPs were determined to carry on the morning after the attack, with German MEP Jo Leinen posting a picture of singing and Christmas lights in the European Parliament.