Motive not being released by authorities. Update to this story.
Via TOI:
French authorities detained five people as they hunted Wednesday for a suspected extremist who sprayed gunfire at one of Europe’s most famous Christmas markets in the eastern city of Strasbourg.
Meanwhile, medical officials lowered the death toll from Tuesday night’s attack from three to two, and then raised it back to three again. It was not immediately clear why the figures were changed. Thirteen people were wounded.
The government raised the security alert level and sent police reinforcements to Strasbourg, where some 350 security forces are searching for the assailant. Police officials said he was wounded in a gunfight with soldiers after the shooting attack but escaped, and a top official said he might have escaped to neighboring Germany.
The suspected attacker is Cherif Chekatta, 29, with a police record in France and Germany who had been flagged for extremism, police said. Police detained five people in overnight searches around the city, Laurent Nunez, secretary of state for the Interior Ministry, said on France-Inter radio.
A terrorism investigation was opened, but the suspected motive for the attack was not officially announced. Nunez said eight of the injured are in serious condition, and the city mayor said some had head wounds.