Transcript for Deadly terror attack at a French Christmas market

And we begin tonight with the terror attack near that Christmas market in strasbourg, France. The images coming in at this hour. It is being invest gaited as an act of terror. The death toll growing after reports of shots fired. Heavily armed officers taking to the streets tonight. The casualties mounting. Several people have been rushed to the hospital. There is a manhunt right now for the gunman, and ABC's senior foreign correspondent Ian Pannell leads us off. Reporter: Tonight, an urgent manhunt underway after a deadly attack in France. The city of strasbourg on lockdown. A gunman opened fire around 8:00 P.M. Near the city's famous Christmas market. The moment shared online. Leaving at least two dead, more than ten injured. Some needing urgent care on the street. Witnesses describing the terror. "We thought it was fireworks," this woman says. "It was a pistol, everyone was running. Families with their kids who were falling to the ground. " people sheltering wherever they could, some taking cover in this restaurant. Armed police swarming the neighborhood, searching for a man already on a watch list and identified as a potential national security threat. Residents ordered to stay inside. Shop owners shuttering their stores. Strasbourg's famous Christmas normally draws 2 million visitors a year. Tonight, it lies empty. Police in Europe have been on high alert this time of year after a truck plowed into a Christmas market in Berlin in 2016, killing 12 people. Ian Pannell joins us tonight. And Ian, they are searching for this suspect, who you report was on a watch list? Reporter: That's right, David. Very soon after this happened, they were able to identify the man very quickly. He's apparently a known criminal who has been on their radar. And there is a major manhunt, a terror investigation tonight. We know they're searching in multiple locations beyond that initial market neighborhood. David? All right, Ian Pannell leading us off with the breaking news from France tonight. Ian, thank you.

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