Shooting in the center of Strasbourg. Several dead and wounded (V4)
(B2) A gunman fired on several people in the center of Strasbourg on Tuesday evening (December 11), just before 20 p.m., when the traditional Christmas market and the plenary session of the European Parliament are taking place.
According to the first elements communicated by the prefecture (at 22:20 p.m.), the individual entered the perimeter of the Christmas market by the Raven bridge, heading towards the rue des Orfèvres. He begins to open fire, wounding several people. The man exchanges fire with a Sentinel patrol, he wounds a soldier (slightly) and is also wounded. But he managed to escape.
The report given by the Grand Est prefecture first reports one, then two deaths. It was reassessed several times, and settled (lastly) at three dead and 13 injured (8 seriously injured and 5 slightly injured). Several injured are very seriously affected, this assessment could therefore increase.
Shots meant to kill
Several injured were hit in the head or in the vital organs. A colleague from Austrian television, Peter Fritz, stayed near a man who had been shot twice in the head in an attempt to resuscitate him for 45 minutes, he said by Twitter. They ended up stopping. It was too late, the doctors said.
The white hospital emergency plan is triggered, making it possible to mobilize all the necessary medical personnel (doctors, nurses), in particular at the CHU de Hautepierre, affirms very quickly France Blue Alsace. Police forces, gendarmes, as well as soldiers from the Sentinel force, teams from the BRI and the RAID, are dispatched as reinforcements to cordon off the district. Two helicopters are mobilized. Controls are reinforced on the nearby German border (of Kehl).
The mayor of the city Roland Ries, very quickly, via twitter, calls for everyone to stay at home, expressing his thoughts to the victims.
Serious event in progress in the center of #Strasbourg.
For now, please stay home.
My first thoughts are with the victims.— Roland Ries (@Roland_Ries) December 11, 2018
Parliament closed for security, European solidarity
At the other end of the city, the European Parliament is closed for several hours. " No one can leave it until further notice. MPs and staff have received emails or text messages telling them to stay safe » indicates Jaume Duch the head of the press service of the Parliament by Twitter.
The President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, who was in Strasbourg during the day (before going back to Brussels to meet Theresa May) shares, via Twitter, of his solidarity: My thoughts are with the victims of the Strasbourg shooting, whom I strongly condemn. Strasbourg is par excellence a city symbol of European peace and democracy. Values that we will always defend. The Commission stands alongside France »
Most European leaders send their messages of condolence and solidarity. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who holds the Presidency of the Council of the EU, condemns " a cowardly act » and reaffirms the « will to defend the values and way of life of Europeans ". "My thoughts are with the victims of today's cowardly shooting in #Strasbourg which I sharply condemn. We will not be intimidated and always defend our #European values as well as our #European way of life."
A man followed
The shooter (Chérif C.) is on file S (State Security) and registered in the report file for the prevention of terrorist radicalization (FSPRT). Born in Strasbourg, he is 29 years old and lives on the outskirts of Strasbourg. He is " very unfavorably known for acts of common law, for which he has already been convicted in France and Germany and for which he has served his sentences ” indicates the Minister of the Interior, Christophe Castaner, who wanted to arrive very quickly in Strasbourg.
It is a surprising mode at the operational level, recognized Laurent Nuñez, the Secretary of State in charge of the Interior on France-Inter Wednesday morning (December 12). " He had become radicalized, at the religious level [during] his time in prison (end of 2015). He proselytized in prison. But nothing allowed to suppose a passage to the act ". He calls to stay careful "before qualifying the event" of attack ". The man should have been arrested in the morning, with other accomplices, for attempted homicide.
(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)
Updated - 11.12 21:30 p.m., midnight and 24 12.12 a.m. (review, reactions, shooter profile)
