Basket ball supporters wait to leave after a match at the Rhenus Sport stadium in Strasbourg, eastern France, Tuesday Dec.11, 2018. A shooting in the French city of Strasbourg killed at least two people... (Associated Press) 
 
 Basket ball supporters wait to leave after a match at the Rhenus Sport stadium in Strasbourg, eastern France, Tuesday Dec.11, 2018. A shooting in the French city of Strasbourg killed at least two people and wounded more than others, officials said, sparking a broad lockdown and major security operation... (Associated Press) 
 
 PARIS (AP) — A shooting in the French city of Strasbourg killed four people and wounded 11 others near a world-famous Christmas market Tuesday, sparking a broad lockdown and a search for the suspected gunman, who remained at large. 
 
 French prosecutors said a terrorism investigation was opened, though authorities did not announce a motive for the bloodshed. The city is home to the European Parliament, which was locked down after the shooting. 
 
 It was unclear if the market — which was the nucleus of an al-Qaida-linked plot in 2000 — was targeted. The prefect of the Strasbourg region said the suspect was previously flagged as a possible extremist. 
 
 The gunman has been identified and has a criminal record, according to Interior Minister Christophe Castaner. 
 
 The death toll, first reported as one, rose to four by late Tuesday, according to two police union officials. One official, Stephane Morisse of union FGP, told The Associated Press the alleged shooter was wounded by soldiers guarding the market. 
 
 Gendarmes went to the suspect's home to arrest him earlier Tuesday, before the attack, but he wasn't there, Morisse said. They found explosive materials, he said. 
 
 French military spokesman Col. Patrik Steiger said the shooter did not aim for the soldiers patrolling in and around the Christmas market, but targeted civilians instead. 
 
 Several of the people wounded were in critical condition, the interior minister said. 
 
 Witnesses described to the AP hearing gunshots, screams and the shouts of police officers ordering people to stay indoors before the area fell silent and the officers fanned out. 
 
 "I heard two or three shots at around 7:55 p.m. (1855 GMT), then I heard screams. I got close to the window. I saw people running. After that I closed the shutters. Then I heard more shots, closer this time," Yoann Bazard, 27, who lives in central Strasbourg. 
 
 "I thought maybe it's firecrackers," he said, speaking by phone. "And then, as it got close, it was really shocking. There were a lot of screams. ... There were police or soldiers shouting 'Get inside!' and 'Put your hands on your head.'" 
 
 Freelance journalist Camille Belsoeur was at a friend's apartment when they heard the gunfire, at first mistaking it for firecrackers. 
 
 "We opened the window. I saw a soldier firing shots, about 12 to 15 shots," Belsoeur said, 
 
 Other soldiers yelled for people to stay indoors and shouted 'Go home! Go home!'" to those outside, he said. . 
 
 Another witness, Peter Fritz, told the BBC one of the four people killed was a Thai tourist who was shot in the head and didn't respond to lengthy attempts to revive him. 
 
 "We tried our best to resuscitate him. We applied CPR. We dragged him into a restaurant close by," Fritz said. 
 
 He said it took more than 45 minutes for an ambulance to arrive, during which time an emergency doctor advised by telephone "that any further efforts would be futile." 
 
 The victim "is still here in this restaurant but we have abandoned all hope for him," Fritz said. 
 
 France previously endured several high-profile extremist attacks, including the coordinated attacks at multiple Paris locations that killed 130 people and wounded hundreds in November 2015. A 2016 truck attack in Nice killed dozens. 
 
 President Emmanuel Macron adjourned a meeting at the presidential palace Tuesday night to monitor the emergency, his office said, indicating the gravity of the attack. 
 
 Castaner and the Paris prosecutor, who is in charge of anti-terror probes in France, headed to Strasbourg. The prosecutor's office said the investigation was being conducted on suspicion of murder and attempted murder in relation with a terrorist enterprise charges, suggesting officials think the alleged shooter may have links to extremists. 
 
 In multiple neighborhoods of Strasbourg, the French Interior Ministry urged the public to remain indoors. Local authorities tweeted for the public to "avoid the area of the police station," which is close to the city's Christmas market. 
 
 Strasbourg's well-known market is set up around the city's cathedral during the Christmas season and is a popular gathering place. 
 
 French soldiers were on patrol after the shooting. At the scene, police officers, police vehicles and barricades surrounded the sparkling lights of the market. 
 
 "Our security and rescue services are mobilized," Castaner said. 
 
 European Parliament spokesman Jaume Duch said that "the European Parliament has been closed and no one can leave until further notice." It wasn't immediately clear how many people were inside. 
 
 The attack revived memories of a new millennium terror plot targeting Strasbourg's Christmas market. Ten suspected Islamic militants were convicted and sentenced to prison in December 2004 for their role in a plot to blow up the market on the New Year's Eve ushering in 2000.. 
 
 The Algerian and French-Algerian suspects — including an alleged associate of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden — went on trial in October on charges they were involved in the foiled plot for the attack. 
 
 They were sentenced to prison terms ranging from one to nine years. 
 
 ___ 
 
 John Leicester and Angela Charlton contributed. ||||| Image copyright Police Nationale (France) 
 
 French police have appealed for help in finding a man suspected of a Christmas market gun attack in Strasbourg that killed three people, and left a fourth brain dead and 12 others wounded. 
 
 Hundreds of security personnel are searching for Cherif Chekatt, 29, on both sides of the Franco-German border. 
 
 The suspect had a string of criminal convictions and had become a radical Islamist while in prison. 
 
 Police say he is highly dangerous and should not be approached. 
 
 French officials announced on Thursday that a third person had died in the aftermath of the Strasbourg attack. Five people were seriously wounded, they said, including a man described as brain dead. 
 
 Why are searches taking place in Germany? 
 
 Chekatt has been in jail in Germany as well as France, and German reports suggested he may have received a call from Germany shortly before the Strasbourg attack. He did not answer the call, but investigators were trying to establish who was behind it, RBB Inforadio reported. 
 
 Border checks on drivers near Strasbourg brought traffic to a near standstill on Thursday 
 
 The French government and police union urged "gilets jaunes" (yellow-vest) protesters to call off demonstrations planned for Saturday to enable authorities to maintain security in the run-up to Christmas. 
 
 A 23-year-old protester was struck by a lorry and killed at a roundabout in Avignon on Wednesday night. 
 
 The lights of Paris' Eiffel Tower were turned off overnight in tribute to the victims of the Strasbourg attack. The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, said the gesture was to show the city's support to the families affected and "all of Strasbourg". 
 
 Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The Eiffel Tower in Paris goes dark in tribute to the victims and "all of Strasbourg" 
 
 Who is leading the manhunt? 
 
 Interior Minister Christophe Castaner told the parliament that 720 police officers and other members of the security forces were searching for the gunman, who was injured in an exchange of fire with soldiers who were patrolling the Christmas market in Strasbourg when the attack occurred. 
 
 Across the nearby border, German police were conducting searches after France's Deputy Interior Minister, Laurent Nuñez, acknowledged that the gunman might no longer be in France. 
 
 Border agents were checking vehicles crossing the Rhine river, which marks the Franco-German frontier, leading to long lines of traffic in both directions. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Pater Fritz describes hearing gunshots and helping a victim of the Strasbourg shooting 
 
 Mr Castaner said the country had moved to the highest level of alert, expanding police powers and increasing vigilance. He added that security at all Christmas markets would be stepped up. 
 
 The mayor of Strasbourg, Roland Ries, has said the Christmas market there will be closed on Wednesday and Thursday, with flags lowered to half-mast at the local town hall. 
 
 How did the attack unfold? 
 
 At about 20:00 local time (19:00 GMT) on Tuesday, a man opened fire close to Strasbourg's famed Christmas market near one of the central squares, Place Kléber, which attracts thousands of visitors. 
 
 France's anti-terror prosecutor, Rémy Heitz, said the man had shouted "Allahu Akbar" ("God is greatest") as he opened fire. As well as the fatalities, 12 people were wounded, six of them seriously, he added. 
 
 The suspect was armed with a gun and a knife and escaped the area after commandeering a taxi, Mr Heitz said. 
 
 As he fled he came into contact with four soldiers, Mr Heitz said, and began firing at them. The soldiers fired back, apparently hitting him in the arm. 
 
 The attacker boasted to the taxi driver that he had killed 10 people, and also said he had been injured during a firefight with soldiers. 
 
 He ordered the taxi driver to drop him in the vicinity of the police station in the Neudorf area. 
 
 When he got out the vehicle, he fired at police officers before escaping into the night. 
 
 Four people connected to the suspect had been detained overnight in Strasbourg, Mr Heitz said. Sources close to the investigation quoted by Reuters news agency said they were the suspect's mother, father and two brothers. 
 
 What do we know about the suspect? 
 
 According to police, Cherif Chekatt was born in Strasbourg and was already known to the security services as a possible Islamist terrorist threat. 
 
 He was the subject of a "fiche S", a watchlist of people who represent a potential threat to national security. 
 
 Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Armed police secure the area after the deadly shooting incident on Tuesday 
 
 He has 27 convictions for crimes including robbery spanning France, Germany and Switzerland, and has spent considerable time in prison as a result. 
 
 Police were seeking him on Tuesday morning in connection with another case, but did not find him at home. 
 
 A search of his apartment in Neudorf revealed a grenade, a rifle, four knives - two of which were hunting knives - and ammunition. 
 
 'Weary and deflated' 
 
 By Damian Grammaticas, Strasbourg 
 
 Strasbourg's famous Christmas market is now a gloomy place. 
 
 The lines of wooden huts are all shuttered. The owner of one told us how he had to flee when he heard the gunshots and take shelter in a local bar. "We're all shaken up," he said. 
 
 At this time of year, the place should be thronged with people who come from far and wide to sightsee and shop, buying everything from hot sausages to souvenirs. Now there's a weary, deflated feeling. Police stand guard at cordoned off alleyways. 
 
 "Everyone was shouting, everyone was running, running, afraid," said one eyewitness who'd seen the gunman shooting randomly. 
 
 Strasbourg has been a target for failed terror attacks before. But now it's happened, people here are hurt and outraged. As one said: "It's shameful." 
 
 Who are the victims? 
 
 Anupong Suebsamarn, 45, a tourist from Thailand, has been named by Thai media as one of the dead. He is believed to have been on holiday with his wife. 
 
 The Italian foreign ministry has said one of the injured is an Italian journalist who was covering the European parliament, but declined to confirm media reports that he was in a serious condition. 
 
 One soldier was slightly injured by a ricocheting bullet during an exchange of fire with the gunman. 
 
 Why is Strasbourg a target? 
 
 Strasbourg has been the target of jihadist plots in the past. 
 
 Not only does it have one of France's oldest Christmas markets, but it is the official seat of the European Parliament. That parliament was in session at the time of Tuesday evening's attack. 
 
 In 2000, the Christmas market was at the centre of a failed al-Qaeda plot. Ten Islamist militants were jailed four years later for their part in the planned New Year's Eve attack. 
 
 However, MEPs were determined to carry on the morning after the attack, with German MEP Jo Leinen posting a picture of singing and Christmas lights in the European Parliament. ||||| French police officers patrol in the streets front of flowers to pay respects of the victims following an attack killing three persons and wounding at least 13, in Strasbourg, eastern France, Thursday,... (Associated Press) 
 
 French police officers patrol in the streets front of flowers to pay respects of the victims following an attack killing three persons and wounding at least 13, in Strasbourg, eastern France, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018. Police union officials identified the suspected assailant as Frenchman Cherif Chekatt,... (Associated Press) 
 
 STRASBOURG, France (AP) — The man authorities say killed three people near a Christmas market in Strasbourg died Tuesday in a shootout with police at the end of two-day manhunt, French authorities said. 
 
 Paris prosecutor's office, which handles terror cases in France, formally identified the man killed in the eastern French city as 29-year-old Cherif Chekatt, a Strasbourg-born man with a long history of convictions for various crimes, including robberies. Chekatt also had been on a watch list of potential extremists. 
 
 The news came a couple of hours after Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said a man believed to be Chekatt had been gunned down during a police operation in the city's Neudorf neighborhood. 
 
 Castaner said the suspect opened fire on police Thursday night when officials tried to arrest him. 
 
 "The moment they tried to arrest him, he turned around and opened fired. They replied," Castaner said. 
 
 A local police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said the man who shot at police was armed with a pistol and a knife. 
 
 Strasbourg mayor Roland Ries said police acted on a top from a woman. Local police officer Emmanuel Georg told BFM TV station that three police officers patrolling the neighborhood tried to intercept a suspect corresponding to Chekatt's description as he was about to enter a building. 
 
 "He opened fired, they responded and managed to shoot him down," Georg said. 
 
 A witness to the shootout said he heard shots and rushed to the window to see what was happening. He closed the shutters when he spotted the cornered suspect across the street. 
 
 "I was very afraid for my children, I told them to go away, and I went to the side," Cem Akcakaya told The Associated Press. 
 
 After it was over, he said he saw the man motionless on his back on the pavement, his left arm askew. 
 
 Chekatt is accused of killing three people and wounding 13 on Tuesday night. Castaner said earlier Thursday that three of the injured had been released from hospital and three others were fighting for their lives. 
 
 More than 700 officers were deployed to find Chekatt, government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux told CNews television. French authorities said Chekatt had 27 criminal convictions, receiving the first at age 13. 
 
 The SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors extremist activity online, said the Islamic State group's Amaq news agency was claiming the gunman as a "soldier" of the group, although IS claims of responsibility have often been considered opportunistic in the past. 
 
 Security forces, including the elite Raid squad, spent hours searching in the Neudorf neighborhood on Thursday based on "supposition only" that Chekatt could have been hiding in a building nearby two days after the attack, a French police official said. Chekatt grew up in Neudorf. 
 
 Chekatt allegedly shouted "God is great!" in Arabic and sprayed gunfire from a security zone near the Christmas market Tuesday evening. Authorities said he was wounded during an exchange of fire with security forces and a taxi driver dropped him off in Neudorf after he escaped. 
 
 So far, five people have been arrested and remanded in custody in connection with the investigation, including Chekatt's parents and two of his brothers. 
 
 The Paris prosecutor's office said the fifth, who was arrested Thursday at an undisclosed location, was a member of Chekatt's "entourage" but not a family member. 
 
 France has raised its three-stage threat index to the highest level since the attack and deployed 1,800 additional soldiers across the country to help patrol streets and secure crowded events. 
 
 Residents of Strasbourg's Neudorf neighborhood expressed relief. 
 
 "Everybody's quite happy that the killer has been finally shot. I think now, the city and life can keep going on in Strasbourg," resident Pierre Plasse said. 
 
 The people who died in the attack included a Thai tourist, 45-year-old Anupong Suebsamarn, according to the Thai Foreign Ministry. Five of the wounded were in serious condition, the prefecture of the Strasbourg region said. 
 
 French President Emmanuel Macron was in Brussels on Thursday for a European Union summit. EU leaders held a minute of silence for the latest victims of a mass shooting in France. 
 
 Hundreds of people gathered in Strasbourg's 500-year-old cathedral Thursday evening to mourn and seek comfort. 
 
 "Evil does not prevail," Archbishop Luc Ravel said. "And the message of Christmas has not been contradicted but rather confirmed by Tuesday's dramatic night: Evil and good are both there, but in the end the good will have last word." 
 
 Strasbourg's usually busy streets were eerily empty Thursday morning, with a heavy police and military presence. Some lit candles and brought flowers to a makeshift memorial at the site of the attack. 
 
 "You can feel a very heavy atmosphere due all these events," said resident Lucille Romance. "People are in a state of shock and are avoiding getting out of their house." 
 
 ___ 
 
 Petrequin and Ganley reported from Paris. Jean-Francois Badias in Strasbourg, Sylvie Corbet, Deborah Gouffran, Elena Becatoros and Elaine Ganley in Paris, Colleen Barry in Milan, Italy, Raf Casert and Angela Charlton in Brussels, Belgium, contributed to this story.
– A shooting in the French city of Strasbourg killed at least three people and wounded 11 others near a world-famous Christmas market Tuesday, sparking a broad lockdown and a search for the suspected gunman, who remained at large, the AP reports. French prosecutors said a terrorism investigation was opened, though authorities did not announce a motive for the bloodshed. The city is home to the European Parliament, which was locked down after the shooting. It was unclear if the market—which was the nucleus of an al-Qaeda-linked plot in 2000—was targeted. The prefect of the Strasbourg region said the suspect was previously flagged as a possible extremist. The gunman has been identified and has a criminal record, according to Interior Minister Christophe Castaner; one official says he was wounded by soldiers guarding the market. Gendarmes went to the suspect's home to arrest him earlier Tuesday, before the attack, but he wasn't there, Morisse said. They found explosive materials, he said. French military spokesman Col. Patrik Steiger said the shooter did not aim for the soldiers patrolling in and around the Christmas market, but targeted civilians instead. Several of the people wounded were in critical condition, the interior minister said. President Emmanuel Macron adjourned a meeting at the presidential palace Tuesday night to monitor the emergency, his office said, indicating the gravity of the attack. In multiple neighborhoods of Strasbourg, the French Interior Ministry urged the public to remain indoors. Local authorities tweeted for the public to "avoid the area of the police station," close to the city's well-known Christmas market, which is set up around the city's cathedral during the holiday season and is a popular gathering place. (More on the thwarted 2000 plot here.)