STRASBOURG, France — The deadly shooting at a crowded Strasbourg street market was an act of terrorism, officials said Wednesday, as hundreds of police officers hunted the fugitive assailant, a man described as a radicalized hometown career criminal.
The gunman killed at least two people and wounded 12 in the Tuesday night shooting spree at the famous Christmas market in Strasbourg, a city of more than a quarter-million in France’s northeast border with Germany.
Rémy Heitz, the Paris prosecutor, who handles terrorism investigations nationwide, said at a news conference in Strasbourg that witnesses had heard the attacker yell “Allahu akbar,” or “God is great” in Arabic, and that the targets and the suspect’s profile justified the opening of a terrorism investigation.
Officials said the suspect had an extensive record and had served time in prison. More than 700 members of the security forces were searching for the suspect in Strasbourg, the French interior minister said.
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