French police placed an area of Strasbourg on lockdown on Thursday as armed officers hunt a gunman who shot dead three people in an attack on a Christmas market.
Security forces, including an elite tactical unit, have swarmed into the Neudorf neighbourhood to investigative if 29-year-old suspect Cherif Chekkat was hiding in a building in the area.
Authorities said a taxi driver dropped him off in the district, in the south-east of the city, after the shooting on Tuesday.
Police have said Chekkat is wanted “dead or alive” over the attack, which also wounded 13 other people.
Net closes on Christmas market gunman as police cordon off area of Strasbourg
Police have launched a major operation in Strasbourg as they appear to close in on the man thought to have carried out a deadly shooting at a Christmas market.
Armed officers have cordoned off an area of the city as they continue a manhunt for suspect Chérif Chekatt, who is wanted over the attack that left two people dead and at least 12 others injured. More follows…
Armed officers have swarmed into Strasbourg's Neudorf neighborhood, south-east of the French city's centre, to investigative if gumman Cherif Chekkat is hiding in building in the area.
Police have homed in on Neudorf after a taxi driver reported dropping off Chekkat in the area following the deadly shooting on Tuesday.
A police official said the this afternoon's operation was based on "supposition only".
But it is a major operation, and the area has been placed on lockdown, prompting speculation that authorities are closing in on the gunman.
Police have been been given orders to catch Cherif Chekkat dead or alive, according to government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux.
More than 700 officers are involved in the manhunt, Griveaux told CNews television.
Police have distributed a photo of Chekatt, who was wounded in an exchange of fire with security forces on Tuesday, with the warning: "Individual dangerous, above all do not intervene."
France raised its three-stage threat index to the highest level and deployed 1,800 additional soldiers across France to help patrol streets and secure crowded events.
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The 27-year-old had been linked to at least three foiled terror attacks before ParisThe office said the man is a member of the "entourage" of main suspect Cherif Chekatt, 29, but not a family member. He was placed in custody on Thursday morning.
A massive manhunt is still underway for Chekatt.
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