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At Least 3 Dead After Shooting in Strasbourg, French Officials Say Gunman Traumatizes Strasbourg, Killing at Least 3 in Possible Terror Attack
(35 minutes 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 three people and wounding 12 others before fleeing from the police, government officials said. PARIS — A gunman opened fire in the picturesque city of Strasbourg on Tuesday night, killing at least three, wounding a dozen and sending terrorized shoppers and tourists scrambling for safety in the middle of France’s biggest Christmas market.
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. Hours after the attack, he remained on the loose. The assailant, previously flagged by the authorities as a potential threat, escaped police officers who quickly descended on the downtown Strasbourg market’s cobblestone streets after the shooting started, shortly before 8 p.m., and ordered people to stay inside.
Witnesses described scenes of panic as gunfire was heard, and fear afterward. Some said on social media that they had sheltered in shops and restaurants in central Strasbourg as the police and military patrolled the streets. Hours later, the assailant remained on the loose as the police expanded their manhunt to the city’s periphery. Government officials said they were investigating the shooting as a possible terrorist attack.
The shooting immediately recalled the Islamic State and Al Qaeda assaults that have haunted France and other European countries over the past several years. It came just as France was grappling with a crisis over the violent Yellow Vest economic protests that have roiled Paris and other French cities for the past four weekends.
The interior minister, Christophe Castaner, announced early Wednesday morning that France had raised its terrorism threat level to the maximum level, with reinforced border checks and increased security at markets around the country. He described the gunman as “a man who was very unfavorably known for criminal activity,” who was convicted by courts in France and Germany, but he did not mention any ties to extremist groups.
Strasbourg, a city of more than a quarter million in eastern France’s Alsace region, is home to the European Parliament and is known for its Christmas market, which attracts more than a million visitors a year.
Witnesses described scenes of panic as gunfire was heard, and then fear as streets emptied out. Some said on social media that they had sheltered in shops and restaurants in central Strasbourg as the police and military patrolled the streets.
“From my hotel window I saw passers-by dragging someone who was injured and onlookers panicking,” Emmanuel Maurel, a member of European Parliament who saw the aftermath, wrote on Twitter. “Soldiers and police have cordoned off the area. We’re being told to stay in the hotel.”“From my hotel window I saw passers-by dragging someone who was injured and onlookers panicking,” Emmanuel Maurel, a member of European Parliament who saw the aftermath, wrote on Twitter. “Soldiers and police have cordoned off the area. We’re being told to stay in the hotel.”
In addition to the three people killed, six people were seriously wounded and six were lightly injured, the interior minister, Christophe Castaner, said at a news conference. Before the attack, the authorities had designated the gunman a possible security risk, the local prefecture said in a statement. Mr. Castaner, the interior minister, said that soldiers patrolling the area shot at the assailant, who exchanged gunfire with the police twice over the next hour.
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. Besides the three people killed, six were seriously wounded and six were lightly injured, he said. Before the attack, the authorities had designated the gunman, who was not identified by name, a possible security risk, the local prefecture said.
Richard Corbett, a British member of European Parliament, tweeted that he was in a locked down restaurant in the city center before eventually being evacuated by the police. On the walk back to his hotel, he said, he had “never seen the streets so deserted.” The Paris prosecutor’s office said that it had opened a terrorism investigation, and Mr. Castaner said the Paris prosecutor, who handles all terrorism investigations nationwide, had arrived in Strasbourg.
Other members of European Parliament took refuge inside government buildings in other parts of the city, and remained there hours after the attack. Richard Corbett, a British member of European Parliament, said in a Twitter post that he was on lockdown in a restaurant in the city center before the police eventually evacuated the occupants. On the walk back to his hotel, he said, he had “never seen the streets so deserted.”
Charles Tannock, another British member of European Parliament, said he was inside the locked down building. Other members of European Parliament were on lockdown inside government buildings elsewhere in the city, and remained there for hours.
“I’m safe but my heart & condolences are with the victims of this atrocity,” he tweeted. Charles Tannock, another British member of European Parliament, said on Twitter that he was locked down inside the Parliament building. “I’m safe but my heart & condolences are with the victims of this atrocity,” he said.
Hundreds of spectators were confined to the Rhenus arena, the home of SIG Strasbourg, the city’s professional basketball team. Before they were evacuated, they rose from their seats and sang a rendition of the French national anthem, La Marseillaise, in honor of the victims of the attack.Hundreds of spectators were confined to the Rhenus arena, the home of SIG Strasbourg, the city’s professional basketball team. Before they were evacuated, they rose from their seats and sang a rendition of the French national anthem, La Marseillaise, in honor of the victims of the attack.
Mr. Castaner, the 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 residents 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, told the BFM TV news channel that the Christmas market has been tightly secured since 2015, when multiple terrorist attacks struck France. Police officers regularly check bags and coats and pat down visitors at several access points, he said.
Roland Ries, the mayor of Strasbourg, said on Twitter that his “first thoughts went to the victims.”
Hours later, in a televised interview, he said the gunman had not yet been found by the police and that hundreds of people were still being asked to stay inside.
“There are still many people who are confined, in restaurants, in the European Parliament, and who for now cannot leave,” he told the news channel BFM TV.
Mr. Ries said that the Christmas market in Strasbourg has been tightly secured since 2015, when multiple terrorist attacks struck France. Police officers regularly check bags and coats and pat down visitors at several access points, he said.
“This individual was able to enter, I don’t know how, inside that bubble,” he said, referring to the gunman. “He escaped those checks and committed these murders in the heart of the city, the heart of the Christmas market.”“This individual was able to enter, I don’t know how, inside that bubble,” he said, referring to the gunman. “He escaped those checks and committed these murders in the heart of the city, the heart of the Christmas market.”
Mr. Ries announced that the city would officially be in mourning on Wednesday and that the Christmas market would be closed, although he did not specify for how long. Mr. Ries announced that the city would officially be in mourning on Wednesday and that the Christmas market would be closed for the day.
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 police initially searched in the heavily immigrant Neusdorf neighborhood, which is cut off by a highway from the historic city center, with its half-timbered houses and towering cathedral. Then they turned to looking in areas just outside Strasbourg, even as the city itself remained virtually locked down.
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. The Strasbourg Christmas market is closed to cars. The three locations where the shootings took place were within the cobblestone-paved market, where many small wooden stalls line the streets, festooned with decorations.
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. Some stalls proffer cookies, warm mulled wine and traditional cakes and breads. People buy small gifts for Christmas stockings and the atmosphere is convivial, even if the market has become more commercial in recent years.
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. The Strasbourg market was a target 18 years ago, when Al Qaeda-linked terrorists were caught shortly before launching an attack on the area close to the cathedral.
One of the gunmen in the Bataclan concert hall, one of the sites November 2015 Paris attacks, was originally from the Strasbourg area. More recently, Berlin’s Christmas market was attacked in 2016 by an assailant who plowed a truck into the stalls, killing 12 people.
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. France has been a prime target of terrorist plots 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 born in Chechnya stabbed several people with a knife, killing one, in a crowded area of downtown Paris near the Palais Garnier, 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 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 try 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,” according to the chief terrorism prosecutor. At least two of those arrested in Strasbourg had earlier gone to Turkey with the intention of crossing the border to Syria.