Cherif Chekatt named as Strasbourg Christmas market shooting suspect after gunman kills two ‘before escaping arrest in hijacked taxi’

The man suspected of killing two people and injuring several others in a shooting near Strasbourg’s iconic Christmas market has been named by police as Cherif Chekatt, 29.

Officials said the suspect was known to intelligence services as a potential security risk prior to the horror that unfolded in the French city on Tuesday evening.

He is believed to have fled in a hijacked taxi after being wounded in an exchange of gunfire with soldiers who were responding to the attack in the city’s centre.

The gunman remained at large overnight and a major security operation involving about 350 officers was under way as the manhunt continued.

The suspect, who was born in Strasbourg, has a criminal record and, according to the prefect of the Strasbourg region, had been flagged as a suspected extremist.

Paris public prosecutor Remy Heitz said on Wednesday two people had been killed in the attack and one was left brain-dead. Twelve were wounded, six seriously.

A motive for last night’s shooting was not immediately clear but French authorities have launched a terror investigation and the threat level has been raised.

France’s national security alert system Vigipirate has increased to its highest level and the country’s interior minister Christophe Castaner said border security will be strengthened.

Mr Castaner said the decision to increase the security level to ‘Emergency Attack’ is to avoid the risk of a potential copycat shooting.

The suspected shooter was known to authorities and had served prison sentences in France and Germany for common law offences, Mr Castaner added.

The gunman was said to have entered central Strasbourg via the Corbeau bridge to the south of the city centre, before heading to Rue des Orfevres, a popular shopping street close to the cathedral, where he opened fire.

There were unconfirmed reports of people being injured in several streets south of Place Kleber in central Strasbourg.

It is thought he may then have headed south of the city centre to the Neudorf or Place de l'Etoile area where people were advised to stay indoors.

Reuters news agency contributed to this report.