The Berlin market attacker, Anis Amri, has been shot dead by police in Milan.
The Tunisian suspect in Monday’s lorry attack on a Berlin Christmas market exchanged fire with police in the Sesto San Giovanni district of Milan in the early hours of Friday after they asked him for ID.
Amri was on foot in the working class area of the Italian city when he was approached by two police officers at around 03:00 (02:00 GMT). He immediately drew a gun and began firing at the officers. Junior officer Luca Scata shot and killed Amri, but his colleague Cristian Movio was shot in the shoulder and needed medical attention.
German authorities have confirmed the identity of the dead man as Amri from his fingerprints, which were also found inside the cab of the lorry. Now, police and intelligence agencies across Europe are trying to determine whether he was aided by accomplices in planning or executing the attack or escaping to Italy.
The attack on the Christmas market at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church on Monday left 12 people dead, and more than four dozen injured. The dead includie the haulage firm driver of the lorry, who was found shot dead inside the cab.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was “relieved” that Amri had been neutralised and no longer posed a terror threat, but conceded that his actions had raised “many questions” for Germany’s security services.
Meanwhile, the Islamic State (IS) released a video that appears to show Amri pledging allegiance to the group’s leader, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi.
