French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner arrived at the Christmas market in the historic center of Strasbourg, which reopened after the massacre on Tuesday evening. Impressive the deployment of the police, many tourists. Among those present, the most widespread reaction is one of “great relief” after the capture and killing of the killer Cherif Chekatt in a police blitz. “Thank you,” Castaner reiterated, addressing the security forces.
The manhunt lasted 48 hours. Then, a few hundred meters from the place where he lost his tracks after having massacred the Christmas market, Cherif Chekatt was located and ‘neutralized’. The terrorist’s escape ended in rue Lazaret, where passers-by, behind the barriers, applaud – several times and for a long time – the policemen engaged in the decisive raid. Not even an hour after his death, Amaq, the Islamic state agency, defeated Isis’s claim: “Chekatt was our soldier” and “carried out the operation to avenge the civilians killed by the coalition international”.
According to some police sources, the blitz that put an end to the killer’s escape was triggered in the evening, Chekatt was walking down the street when he was reached by the police and reacted immediately by shooting. The reaction of the BST, the specialized brigade on the ground, warned by a woman who recognized him, was immediate and the mad escape of Cherif Chekatt, 29, ended. Two days after the massacre at the Strasbourg Christmas market, like a wounded beast, Chekatt was still in Neudorf, the place where he had been accompanied by the taxi and had then lost track of him. It was his “his of him” neighborhood, the area he knew inch by inch, and where – some sources say to the French media present on the spot – he could have enjoyed support in these hours. There is also the hypothesis that the
In fact, everything had been concentrated for hours on Strasbourg and, in particular, in the Neudorf area, where Chekatt probably tried to be treated for the deep wound in his arm caused by the bullets from the assault rifle supplied by the police that had reacted to his attack on the market. The official death toll and of 3 people, Kamal, the Afghan struck with the child in his arms while walking among the market stalls, died after a few hours of brain death.
Meanwhile, the taxi driver forced to accompany Chekatt during his escape revealed that the terrorist – who spared him as a Muslim – had confided to him that he had killed to “avenge his brothers in Syria”.
Fight against death Antonio Megalizzi, the Italian reporter shot in the head, kept in a pharmacological coma by doctors who speak of the next 48 hours as ‘decisive’. Among the data in the hands of the investigators, the testimony of the taxi driver forced to transport him to Neudorf, where Chekatt had lost track. The terrorist had told the driver that he had killed him to “avenge our brothers who died in Syria”.
The taxi driver, a Muslim with various Islamic-inspired objects in the cockpit, believes he was spared because of his religion. Also during the day, a close friend of Chekatt, who had also hosted him the night before the attack, was placed in custody and interrogated during these hours. It is the fifth arrested after the fugitive’s father, mother and two brothers. In Paris, the police searched the house in which one of her sisters lives with her husband, on the very central boulevard Raspail. Strasbourg, in the afternoon, paid homage to the victims of the attack in the cathedral full of faithful and citizens and tourists. An intense moment, during which Bishop Luc Ravel stressed that the terrorist violence “hit everyone, it hit our Christmas capital, Strasbourg”,
Details continue to emerge about the profiles of the victims. Anupong Suebsamarn, a 45-year-old Thai tourist killed by Chekatt on Tuesday evening, was visiting Strasbourg with his wife Naiyana. They had arrived the day before, changing their plans: the initial plan was, of course, to visit Paris but the yellow vest demonstrations had frightened them and they had turned to Strasbourg.
The European capital of Christmas, Strasbourg , falls into terror on a December evening, when the festive lights suddenly illuminate a scene of war: shooting in the crowd, dead, wounded slumped in the streets, people fleeing screaming.Among the injured was also an Italian, a young radio journalist , Antonio Megalizzi . His condition is very serious: he was wounded in the head by a bullet during the attack in Strasbourg. The compatriot, ANSA learns from qualified sources, is struggling in these hours between life and death in the hospital where he is hospitalized. – FIRST AID THE VIDEO – THE POINT OF THE ANSA ENVIRONMENT
The killer, identified, had already ended up in prison in the past for assault . He was later flagged as a ‘radicalized’ element and a threat to national security. Her name is Cherif Chekatt, 29 years old, of North African origins but born in Strasbourg. To catch him, the police have set up a massive manhunt. Armored the historic center where no one has been allowed to enter, only to leave. Patrol deserted streets inch by inch, even with a helicopter. The mayor of the city, Roland Ries, immediately spoke of a terrorist attack and invited everyone to barricade themselves inside the house.
The French authorities found explosive material in the bomber’s home. The discovery was made during a house search a few hours before the attack. Law enforcement, Morisse said without giving further details, had gone into the house to arrest the man. From Paris to Nice to Berlin,In Strasbourg it is the busiest week, the one that in addition to tourists sees all the staff of the European Parliament arrive in the city for the monthly plenary. Many MEPs, including Italians, found themselves stuck in restaurants and bars. While the Parliament was armored, on the orders of President Antonio Tajani, and many people remained closed in the building. The crisis unit of the Farnesina recommended to the Italians immediately after the attack to avoid the area of ​​the historic center . In a tweet, compatriots are also advised to follow the instructions of the local authorities.
#Strasburgo: Unita di Crisi recommends that fellow countrymen avoid the historic center area and advises to follow the instructions of the local authorities.
Emergency number: + 390636225https: //t.co/kv1wUqUY6Y pic.twitter.com/9mXnCPvqCY
– Farnesina (@ItalyMFA) 11 December 2018 The European Parliament was armored after the shooting that took place in the historic center of Strasbourg The dynamic of the attack – The killer would have fired several shots in the rue del Grandes Arcades, near the very central Place Kleber, where the market is located and then he would have fled in the direction of the Grande Rue, where witnesses would have heard others shooting.
Those present fled amidst scenes of panic. The police then isolated the area for a radius of about 200 meters around Gutenberg Square, traffic was diverted, while ambulances ran towards the center. “The heart of European democracy struck by murderous madness”, commented the European Commissioner for Economic Affairs Pierre Moscovici, also in Strasbourg. An attack that, however, does not come entirely as a bolt from the blue. Two years ago, around Christmas, the French police had foiled a possible terrorist attack on the markets by dismantling a cell in Marseille. This time someone has managed to slip between the security shirts, and stain the city-favor of Alsace with blood. ALL VIDEOS
