STRASBOURG, France—A massive manhunt involving hundreds of police and soldiers was underway Wednesday for a suspected extremist who yelled “God is great!” in Arabic during a shooting spree around one of Europe’s most famous Christmas markets. The assault in the eastern French city of Strasbourg killed two, left one person brain dead and injured 12 others, authorities said.
Police union officials identified the suspected assailant as Frenchman Cherif Chekatt, a 29-year-old with a thick police record for crimes including armed robbery and monitored as a suspected religious radical by the French intelligence services. The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to publicly discuss details of the large and ongoing investigation into the attack that set France on edge anew.
