The dramatic final moments of Strasbourg attack suspect Cherif Chekatt were revealed by Paris prosecutor Remy Heitz on Friday.
ADVERTISEMENTThe dramatic final moments of Strasbourg attack suspect Cherif Chekatt were revealed by Paris prosecutor Remy Heitz on Friday.
He said the 29-year-old was killed in a shootout with police on Thursday evening in Neudorf, a suburb to the south of the French city.
Heitz said around 21h CET a patrol noticed an individual that looked like the suspect. The individual saw the police vehicle. He pretended to go into a building. Drawing closer, the patrol realised he was not able to open the building's door, and that his clothes looked like those the suspect was wearing on the warrant description.
As they announced themselves as police, the individual turned around and pointed his weapon towards them — a handgun similar to the one used on Tuesday evening — and started to shoot. A projectile hit the left side of the police car door. The three police officers retaliated and shot several times and killed him, Heitz said.
Chekatt's death was officially announced around after he was identified by his fingerprints, Heitz added.
Officers later found an old pistol, ammunition and a knife on Chekatt.
"The investigation now continues to find accomplices who helped him in the preparation of the attack", Heitz said, adding that seven people are now in police custody: four members of his family and three members of "his close entourage".
Heitz said police's questioning of relatives and led them to believe that it was likely Chekatt was in the suburb of Neudorf.
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