French police release photo of suspected gunman behind Strasbourg Christmas market attack
Police release photo of suspect behind Strasbourg attack
French police on Tuesday night released the photo of a man suspected to have carried out the attack at the Strasbourg Christmas market in which 3 people were killed and at least 13 injured.
Police said a Strasbourg-born native Frenchman Cherif C., 29, was on the watchlist of intelligence services and had been sentenced 27 times in France, Germany and Switzerland for crimes including violence and robbery.
Cherif's mother and brother were detained for questioning as the hunt for Cherif continued in Strasbourg. French police on Monday had stepped up checks at the border and have now extended their investigation into neighbouring Germany.
Deputy interior minister Laurent Nunez said Cherif was radicalised when he was in prison and he "called for practising a radical form of religion,", witnesses said he cried out "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greater) as he stuck the market.
Cherif had reportedly escaped from the market in a taxi as he exchanged fire with police and then disappeared.
Police said Cherif engaged in gunfights twice with security forces and later escaped after carrying out the attack in the busy Christmas market at the Strasbourg market in eastern France.
Chekatt was flagged by French authorities in 2015 as a possible extremist, the police informed and lived close to the Christmas market.
Police said they wanted to arrest Cherif on Tuesday morning as part of an investigation into an alleged robbery but he was not at home. The police found a grenade, four knives and a loaded .22 calibre pistol in his house.
The SITE intelligence group, which monitors terrorist activity had said in November that a group aligned with the Islamic State(IS) had warned of a Strasbourg attack with a social media post titled "O Christmas here we come - Strasbourg, 01 January 2019."
No organization has claimed responsibility for the attack.