Strasbourg market reopens, French police probe dead suspect's contacts

Investigators looking into the Strasbourg attack are trying to establish whether the main suspect was helped by accomplices while on the run, Paris prosecutor Remy Heitz said Friday.

The prosecutor, who handles terror cases throughout France, told a news conference on Friday that seven people are in police custody, including four family members of Cherif Chekatt. The 29-year-old was shot dead on Thursday during a police operation in the Neudorf neighbourhood of the city.

"We want to reconstruct the past 48 hours in order to find out whether he got some support," Heitz said.

It's suspected Chekatt killed four people near Strasbourg's Christmas market on Tuesday night.

The Paris prosecutor's office said a fourth person died late Friday as a result of the attack. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte later identified the man as Antonio Megalizzi, a journalist at Europhonica.

A tourist from Thailand and a French citizen born in Afghanistan, both men, were also among the known fatalities.

After a two-day manhunt, Heitz said, on Thursday evening, three officers patrolling in Neudorf spotted a man corresponding to the suspect's description. He noticed their vehicle and tried unsuccessfully to enter a building. After police officers identified themselves, Chekatt turned around and opened fire.

"A projectile hit the vehicle above the left rear door, two police officers responded, shooting several times, and killed him," Heitz said.

Strasbourg reopened its traditional Christmas market under heavy security hours later.

"It's reopening just in time," said stall-holder Bernard Kuntz, preparing his scarves and stoles imported from India. "We were getting worried. Some of the guys have taken out loans to be here, and we've already lost two days."

French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner toured the area early Friday with Roland Ries, the city's mayor, and greeted merchants and pedestrians.

The outdoor market in Strasbourg, centred around a towering Christmas Tree in Place Kleber, draws more than two million visitors each year. Christmas markets have been a feature of the Alsatian city since the early 15th century.

Convictions since early teens

The immediate aftermath of the shootout between French security forces and the suspect was caught on camera from across the street, with video footage showing armed officers at the scene and the body of the man slumped in a doorway.

Investigators say they found a gun, a knife and ammunition on Chekatt's body.

The Paris prosecutor's office formally identified the man as 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.

After he sprayed gunfire from a security zone near the Christmas market on Tuesday, security forces wounded the man but he managed to escape in a taxi, which dropped him off in Neudorf.

More than 700 officers searched for Chekatt, government spokesperson Benjamin Griveaux told CNews television.

Chekatt was well known to police, but as a common criminal, not a terrorist. He had his first conviction at 13, and had 26 more by the time he died at age 29. He served jail time in France, Germany and Switzerland.