Gunman kills 3 people in French Christmas market, flees

CHRISTMAS MARKET SECURITY

The European Parliament, which is sitting in Strasbourg this week, was put into lockdown.

On the opposite side of the Rhine river German police also tightened border controls, officials said.

The Strasbourg prefecture said the gunman was on an intelligence services watchlist.

Sources familiar with the police operation said the suspect's home had been raided earlier in the day in connection with a robbery during the summer, but he was not found there.

A Reuters reporter was among 30 to 40 people being held in the basement of a supermarket for their own safety, waiting for police to clear the area. Lights were switched off and bottles of water handed out.

Security was tight this year for the Christmas market, which is popular with visitors to the city's old quarter, with its Gothic cathedral and half-timbered houses.

Unauthorised vehicles were excluded from surrounding streets during opening hours and checkpoints were set up on bridges and access points to search pedestrians' bags.

President Emmanuel Macron was being updated on events, an Elysee Palace official said. Castaner was on his way to Strasbourg.