5 Arrested, Terror Suspect Still Loose After Strasbourg Shooting

French authorities have detained five people in connection with a massive manhunt for a suspected extremist who fatally shot three people and wounded at least 13 in a Christmas market in Strasbourg on the evening of Dec. 11, according to reports.

The gunman, wounded in an exchange of fire with police, remains at large.

“The hunt is continuing,” Deputy Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on France Inter radio, with some 350 officers said to be involved in the manhunt.

Nunez added that eight of the injured were in serious condition.

The radio interviewer asked Nunez whether the suspect might have left France. He replied, “That cannot be ruled out.”

German police have responded to the attack by tightening border controls.

Security forces secure area where a suspect is sought after a shooting in Strasbourg, France, on Dec. 11, 2018. Reuters/Christian Hartmann

On High Alert

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said the country had issued an “urgence attentat” (emergency attack) alert, according to a BBC report.

The high alert expands police powers and creates the highest degree of vigilance, but is not equivalent to a state of national emergency.

Justice Minister Nicole Belloubet said on Public Senat television that there was no need for the government to declare a state of emergency as recent new legislation gave police adequate powers to deal with the situation.

Castaner was quoted as saying that border controls had been strengthened and security at all Christmas markets would be stepped up.

Protests have been banned in Strasbourg, but not in the rest of France.

The country has been gripped by wave after wave of “yellow vest” protests, highlighting economic frustration and political distrust of poorer working families.

A terrorism investigation has been opened, but the motive is not known.

Members of French special police forces from the Research and Intervention Brigade attend a police operation the day after a shooting in Strasbourg, France, on Dec. 12, 2018. Reuters/Vincent Kessler

What Happened?

The suspect opened fire in downtown Strasbourg on Orfevre Street around 8 p.m. local time, government authorities said on Twitter.

Part of the shooting took place in a Christmas market at Rue des Grandes Arcades before spilling into different streets in the city, Strasbourg Mayor Roland Ries said, according to Fox News.

Witnesses described shots and screams after the gunman opened fire at the Christmas market Tuesday evening in a city that’s home to the European Parliament.

“I heard two or three shots at around 7:55 p.m., then I heard screams. I got close to the window. I saw people running. After that I closed the shutters. Then I heard more shots, closer this time,” said Yoann Bazard, 27, who lives in central Strasbourg, according to AP.

“I thought maybe it’s firecrackers,” he said, speaking by phone. “And then, as it got close, it was really shocking. There were a lot of screams. ... There were police or soldiers shouting ‘Get inside!’ and ‘Put your hands on your head.’”

Police officials said the shooter was wounded in a gunfight with soldiers after the attack but managed to escape.

The soldiers were patrolling the area as part of anti-terror measures.

Castaner, the Interior Minister, said the man “fought twice with our security forces” before making a getaway in a hijacked taxi.

The taxi driver told police the suspect’s left leg was wounded.

What Is Known About the Gunman?

Officials have identified the suspected gunman as Strasbourg-born Cherif Chekatt, 29, who was known to intelligence services as a potential security risk.

Chekatt had convictions in France and Germany for crimes unrelated to terrorism and served time in prison, according to the BBC, and was part of known extremist networks.

BFM TV described him as a “repeat offender” and “delinquent.”

Nunez told reporters that police tried to arrest Chekatt earlier on Tuesday for an attempted murder, but failed.

Stephane Morisse, from the FGP police union, was cited by the BBC as saying that the suspect’s apartment had been searched as part of the arrest attempt, and police found grenades.

Nunez said Chekatt had been radicalized during past stays in prison.

‘Fiche S’ Terror Watch List

Police considered Chekatt a possible terrorist threat and said he had been flagged under the “fiche S” terror watch list.

Some 20,000 people are classed under the “fiche S” in France, and of these around 4,000 are considered dangerous.

The system has been criticized for its insufficiency to stop terrorism after it emerged that an ISIS-affiliated knifeman who killed one and wounded four in Paris earlier this year was on the list.

“What purpose can this ‘fiche S’ serve if we don’t stop these time bombs from causing damage on French soil,” asked National Front leader Marine Le Pen on Twitter.

Laurent Wauquiez, leader of the center-right Republicans, denounced official “blindness and inaction,” according to Euronews. He called on Macron and his government to adopt tougher measures to imprison individuals considered the most dangerous.

Strasbourg Targeted Before

This is not the first time Strasbourg, the official seat of the European Parliament, has been the target of terror plots.

In 2000, the Christmas market in the city was at the center of a failed plot by al-Qaeda extremists.

Ten Islamist militants were jailed four years later for their part in the planned New Year’s Eve attack, according to the BBC.

The mayor of Strasbourg, Roland Ries, has said the Christmas market will be closed on Dec. 12 and that flags would be lowered to half-mast at the local town hall.

Ries told BFM television that “life must go on” so that the city doesn’t bow to a “terrorist who is trying to disrupt our way of life.”

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.