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| At Least 2 Dead After Shooting in Strasbourg, French Officials Say | At Least 2 Dead After Shooting in Strasbourg, French Officials Say |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| PARIS — A single gunman — previously flagged by the authorities as a potential threat — opened fire in the French city of Strasbourg on Tuesday, killing two people and wounding 12 others before fleeing from the police, government officials said. | PARIS — A single gunman — previously flagged by the authorities as a potential threat — opened fire in the French city of Strasbourg on Tuesday, killing two people and wounding 12 others before fleeing from the police, government officials said. |
| The gunman began shooting around 8 p.m. in downtown Strasbourg, near a popular Christmas market that attracts more than a million visitors every year. He remains on the loose. | The gunman began shooting around 8 p.m. in downtown Strasbourg, near a popular Christmas market that attracts more than a million visitors every year. He remains on the loose. |
| In addition to the two people killed, six people were seriously wounded and six were lightly injured, the local prefecture said. Before the attack, the authorities had designated the gunman a possible security risk, it said. | |
| The Paris prosecutor’s office said that it had opened a terrorism investigation and that the Paris prosecutor, who handles all terrorism investigations nationwide, was heading to Strasbourg. France has had a number of terrorist attacks in recent years, and military patrols in urban centers and especially crowded shopping areas have become routine. | The Paris prosecutor’s office said that it had opened a terrorism investigation and that the Paris prosecutor, who handles all terrorism investigations nationwide, was heading to Strasbourg. France has had a number of terrorist attacks in recent years, and military patrols in urban centers and especially crowded shopping areas have become routine. |
| Christophe Castaner, France’s interior minister, told reporters in a brief statement that the gunman had been identified and that the police were aware that he had a criminal record. | Christophe Castaner, France’s interior minister, told reporters in a brief statement that the gunman had been identified and that the police were aware that he had a criminal record. |
| As the manhunt continued, the historic center of the city was cordoned off, tram traffic was halted and officials told people in the area to stay at home. | As the manhunt continued, the historic center of the city was cordoned off, tram traffic was halted and officials told people in the area to stay at home. |
| Roland Ries, the mayor of Strasbourg, said on Twitter that his “first thoughts went to the victims.” | Roland Ries, the mayor of Strasbourg, said on Twitter that his “first thoughts went to the victims.” |
| While the nature of Tuesday’s attack was still unclear, France has faced a number of terrorist attacks and attempted attacks in recent years. In 2015, two armed men entered the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris, killing 12 people, including cartoonists, editors and police officers. In November of that same year, nearly simultaneous attacks in and around Paris left 130 people dead and several hundred wounded. | |
| The most recent attack was in May, when a naturalized French citizen who was born in Chechnya stabbed several people with a knife, killing one, in a crowded area of downtown Paris near the Palais Garnier, the home of the Paris Opera. | |
| Earlier in the spring, a Frenchman who was born in Morocco killed one person while hijacking a car, and then entered a supermarket in the small southern French town of Trèbes, killing two people and taking a woman hostage. A police officer, Lt. Col. Arnaud Beltrame volunteered to change places with the female hostage and was subsequently killed by the attacker, Radouane Lakdim. | |
| Strasbourg, which is on the French-German border, and nearby towns in Alsace-Lorraine have seen a number of young men, mostly of North African descent, leave or attempt to leave for Syria to join extremists there who were fighting with the Islamic State. | |
| One of the gunmen in the Bataclan concert hall, one of the sites of the November 2015 Paris attacks, was originally from the Strasbourg area. | |
| In 2016, French intelligence officers and the police detained seven men, five of them in Strasbourg, who were preparing to “go into action imminently,” the chief terrorism prosecutor said. At least two of those arrested in Strasbourg had earlier gone to Turkey with the intention of crossing the border to Syria. |