Italian soldiers patrol next to Milan’s gothic cathedral, Italy, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2016. Following the truck attack on a Christmas market in Berlin, Italy is strengthening security measures for areas where crowds are expected for Christmas ceremonies. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno) MILAN (AP) – 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, ending a Europe-wide manhunt, Italy’s interior minister said.
Checks conducted after the shootout showed “the person killed, without a shadow of a doubt, is Anis Amri, the suspect of the terrorist attack,” Interior Minister Marco Minniti said.
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. 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 officers was shot and is in the hospital, but his condition is not life-threatening, Minniti said. The other officer fatally shot Amri.