Tunisian suspect linked to Monday’s attack on Christmas market killed in shootout after being stopped by police

Anis Amri, the Tunisian suspect believed to be behind Monday’s terror attack on a Christmas market in Berlin, has been shot and killed by police in Milan, the Italian interior minister has confirmed.

“The man killed was without a shadow of doubt Anis Amri,” said Marco Minniti, the interior minister.

Amri was stopped by two police officers in a routine check in the Sesto San Giovanni neighbourhood on the outskirts of the city and was asked for his documents, according to Minniti.

Berlin market attack suspect killed in Milan after shootout with police – live Read more

He reached into his backpack, pulled out a gun and a shootout ensued in which Amri was killed, Minniti said. One officer was also injured and was recovering in hospital.

While there were few other confirmed details of the shooting, there were multiple Italian reports that Amri was the first to shoot. A 36-year-old officer named Cristian Movio sustained a non-life threatening wound to his shoulder. Another officer, Luca Scatà, a 29-year-old who had been on the job for nine months, then shot and killed the suspected terrorist.

Paolo Gentiloni, Italy’s prime minister, said he alerted German chancellor Angela Merkel to the news of Amri’s death early on Friday morning.

“Our attention is high, threats should not be underestimated, but what happened last night, I think, allows all of our fellow citizens to know that the state is present, and Italy is present,” Gentiloni said.

Both Gentiloni and Minniti issued high praise for the officers who confronted Amri and killed him. Minniti said he told the wounded officer that “Italians will be able to have a happier holiday. All of Italy should be proud of him.”

Minniti added: “It’s not simple to guarantee an adequate level of security faced with the threat of terrorism but we are putting everything into it.”

It was a dramatic end to a story that began and ended in Italy, five days after Amri drove a lorry carrying 20 tonnes of steel beams into a crowded Christmas market in Breitscheidplatz, Berlin’s main public square.

Twelve people, including the Polish lorry driver murdered by Amri and an Italian, Fabrizia Di Lorenzo, were killed in the attack, and dozens more were injured.

A Czech and an Israeli were among the six female victims. Eight victims were German. Among the 45 injured are citizens from Israel, Spain, Britain, Hungary, Finland and Lebanon.

Berlin Christmas market attack: a graphical guide to what we know so far Read more

Many details are still unclear about Amri’s final hours, including how he entered Italy. Several media reports said a ticket had been found on Amri’s body that suggested he had just arrived in the Sesto San Giovanni area by train from Turin at about 1am. He is believed to have arrived in Turin from France.



Reports initially indicated that Amri had been in a car at the time of his confrontation with police, but the shootout appears to have occurred while Amri was walking down the street.

Italy was familiar territory to Amri and that may explain why the suspected murderer headed back to the country following Monday’s attack. He is believed to have arrived in Italy as a migrant, one of tens of thousands of Tunisians who entered the country after the Arab spring protests in 2011.

He quickly came to the attention of law enforcement officials. He was allegedly involved in several incidents, including a fire at a migrant detention facility, and spent several years in prisons in Sicily.

In all, he was held in six different prisons on the island, serving three and a half years for starting a fire at a refugee centre and making threats, among other charges. But Italy apparently recorded no signs that Amri was becoming radicalised.

The Italian government has not officially responded to questions about Amri’s period in Italy or why he could not be deported following his arrest and conviction. But the issue of deportation of migrants who have not been granted asylum is a tricky one for Italy, which has criticised the EU for not doing enough to support costly deportation efforts.

Gentiloni, who previously served as foreign minister, has only been prime minister for nine days. His predecessor, Matteo Renzi, who remains head of the Democratic party and is expected to lead the party in early elections next year, took to Facebook to issue his congratulations to Italian police forces.

Renzi wrote: “If there’s one thing I’ve learned to appreciate in my thousand days in office it is that our men and our women in uniform have extraordinary quality and professionalism. They are among the best in the world even if this is is not always recognised.”