Strasbourg attacker shot dead by police

Strasbourg attacker shot dead by police

The suspected gunman who killed three people at a Christmas market in the French city of Strasbourg was shot dead in a brief gun battle.

He'd been on the run for 48 hours.

Cherif Chekatt, 29, was killed in the Neudorf/Meinau area of the city shortly after a big police operation was launched on Thursday about 2 kilometres from where he launched his attack on Tuesday.

Chekatt was killed after firing on police officers, who returned fire, one of the sources said.

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner told reporters later three police officers came across a man they believed to be Chekatt and went to arrest him.

He turned to fire on them and they shot and killed him, Castaner told reporters.

"I think it will help to get back to a life that I would describe as normal," Strasbourg Mayor Roland Ries told reporters after news that Chekatt had been killed.

"With the death of this terrorist ... citizens, like me, are relieved," he said

Reuters reporters near the scene heard three to four gunshots after armed police officers and units launched their operation, backed up by a helicopter circling overhead.

The death toll from Tuesday's attack rose to three while police on Thursday combed the city in the east of France for a second day and manned checkpoints on the German border in their search for Chekatt.

Three others were fighting for their lives on Thursday, Castaner told a news conference before news broke that Chekatt had been shot dead.

Police issued a wanted poster in multiple languages for Chekatt, who was the main suspect in the attack and who had been on a watchlist as a potential security threat.

Published: by Radio NewsHub
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