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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 |
| (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 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. Hours after the attack, he remained on the loose. | |
| 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. | |
| “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 two people killed, six people were seriously wounded and six were lightly injured, the local prefecture said in a statement. 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. |
| 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.” | |
| Other members of European Parliament took refuge inside government buildings in other parts of the city, and remained there hours after the attack. | |
| Charles Tannock, another British member of European Parliament, said he was inside the locked down building. | |
| “I’m safe but my heart & condolences are with the victims of this atrocity,” he tweeted. | |
| 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. | |
| 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.” |
| 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.” | |
| 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. | |
| 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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 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. | 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. |