Berlin truck attack suspect killed in Milan police shootout

MILAN, Italy — Italy's interior minister said that the Tunisian man suspected of driving a truck into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin was killed early Friday in a shootout with police in Milan, The Associated Press reported.

Checks conducted after the shootout showed "the person killed, without a shadow of a doubt," is Anis Amri, Interior Minister Marco Minniti said during a news conference.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the Monday attack in Berlin, which killed 12 and injured 56 others.

Amri, 24, who had spent time in prison in Italy, was stopped by two officers during a routine police check in the Sesto San Giovanni neighborhood of Milan early Friday, the AP reported. He pulled a gun from his backpack after being asked to show his identity papers and was killed in the ensuing shootout.

One of the two officers was shot by Amri and is in the hospital, but his condition is not life-threatening, Minniti said. The other officer fatally shot Amri, the AP reported.

Italian Premier Paolo Gentiloni said he telephoned German Chancellor Angela Merkel to tell her that the suspect had been killed.

Amri had been at large since the attack, and European authorities had offered a reward of up to 100,000 euros (about $104,000) for information on his whereabouts, CNN reported.

Amri arrived in Milan by train from the French region of Savoy, according to Italian news agency ANSA. He went from Chambery to Turin and then took a train to Milan, where he arrived at around 1:00. Then he went from Milan's Stazione Centrale to Sesto San Giovanni, ANSA reported.

Amri was killed by a trainee police officer, 29-year-old Luca Scatà, ANSA reported, citing unnamed sources said. The other policeman, Christian Movio, 36, is in hospital in Monza after being injured, ANSA reported, again citing unnamed sources.

"We can be relieved at the end of this week that one acute danger has been ended," Merkel said. "But the danger of terrorism as a whole remains, as it has for many years — we all know that."

The Associated Press reported that officials are working to determine how Amri got to the market since few busses were operating at the time of the attack.

Peter Frank, Germany's chief federal prosecutor leading the investigation said, "It is now of great significance for us to establish whether the suspect had a network of supporters or helpers in preparing and carrying out the crime, and in fleeing, whether there were accessories or helpers."

Cox Media Group