this is bbc news. i'm babita sharma with a bbc world news special programme on the attack in strasbourg. lockdown in the french city of strasbourg after a gunman opens fire near a busy christmas market. at least two people are reported dead — several others injured. one eyewitness overlooking the scene filmed the immediate reaction to the attack. what happened was i heard two big noises but i thought they were firecrackers. i turned the corner andi firecrackers. i turned the corner and i saw one person on the ground with a wound. this is the scene live in strasbourg where police are still looking for the gunmen who is believed to be still be on the run. is believed to be still be on the

i’ui’i. “ is believed to be still be on the run. —— gunman. we begin with breaking news from france: a few hours ago, a gunman opened fire on a christmas market in strasbourg, killing at least two people and injuring several others. let's bring you the scene live where the attack took place. as you can see, a heavy police presence there. the attack happened in the city centre. police say they exchanged fire with the attacker who is known to security forces. the city is the home to the european parliament and has been placed on lockdown. thousands remain stuck in their office buildings, restaurants and nearby cafes did it officials say that the gunman had been previously identified as a national security risk and was known to authorities. the media are reporting that the

suspects home was raided on tuesday morning but managed to avoid arrest. we are now also hearing that the mayor of strasbourg says that the death toll has risen to four. lucy williamson reports from paris. france tonight relived the terror of another attack. in the narrow streets around strasbourg's christmas market, riot police hunted a gunman who opened fire on the crowds here. his gunshots initially mistaken by one witness for fireworks. screaming this footage shows the moment one of the victims was shot amid the chaos and panic of christmas revellers. peter fritz witnessed one of the attacks. well, what i heard shortly after 8pm, i should say, were two distinct gunshots and people fleeing the place. now, i wasn't sure these were actually gunshots, and i went around the corner and ifound a person with, apparently, two shots into the head lying on the bridge here. we tried to engage in resuscitation activities.

we took him into a restaurant, which i'm in right now, and we tried for 45 minutes to resuscitate him. the gunman is reportedly known to security services and is now the french government has told people to stay where they are. lawmakers and staff have been locked into the european parliament, just 15 minutes away from the scene. yes, our situation is exceptional. we cannot leave the building... well, with streets are empty, you know, people have been asked to vacate the streets, to stay inside. any hotels and restaurants, the doors are locked, keeping people inside. and indeed in the european parliament itself. the president of the european commission said tonight that strasbourg is a symbolic city of peace and democracy, values he said that we will always defend. lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. let's update you now on a piece of

information we have learnt the sour. we understand that the french president has arrived at the interior ministry building in paris for a briefing about the attack and the counter terrorism group has opened an investigation into what is happening. as it stands at the moment, the scene in strasbourg is iam andi moment, the scene in strasbourg is iam and i think we can show you the scene where there is a heavy police presence and reports, as we understand, that the gunman are still on the run. reuters news agency as saying that the gunman as on the run after an exchange with police in the area where gun shots we re police in the area where gun shots were heard. we are waiting for confirmation about exactly when that happened. the incident, the shooting itself took place over four hours ago in one of the main christmas markets in strasbourg which attracts thousands of people, particularly popular at this time of year with

tourists and locals alike. strasbourg is also home to the european parliament and many people remain inside the parliament building as the whole area is on lockdown as the police continue their operation to try and get the gunman into custody. we arejoined now by kasia in brussels. the regional police are describing this as an ongoing active operation where the gunman is still on the run and the gunman is still on the run and the police are trying to find him. as you were saying, president mccrone has arrived in strasbourg and he will be overseeing developments —— president emanuel macron. the city centre has been evacuated and police —— people should leave via the north of strasbourg. they are not to go down

into the southern region, the neudorf neighbourhood where it is believed that the gunman is potentially hiding. let me just talk you through what the developments of the day are because this shooting happened at eight o'clock in the evening local time and it happened close to the christmas market near one of the central squares. and incredibly popular christmas markets, 4 million people visit it yearly. the shooting lasted for around ten minutes and the area was across three separate streets. one can understand the amount of panic and worry that this incident has caused. we have confirmed that two people have been killed and i2 wounded but media reports are saying that up to four people are feared to have been killed. this is, of

course, still an ongoing operation. six people seriously injured, six with slight injuries and we know that the gunman was known to security services. he is being hunted by police. we believe he had been injured in an exchange of gunfire with a soldier according to police what we are waiting for if you more details on that. according to the french media, the man had fled to his apartment in the neudorf district of the city, this area slightly south—east of the area where the attack took place, the area where police are asking people to not enter, to stay away from the max remak district. —— to stay away from the neudorf district. the gunman was not amongst

the people detained during an earlier investigation. the european parliament ‘s is in strasbourg but i must stress that this, it is believed, not believed that the european parliament was targeted all the main target of the attack. it is more likely that the christmas market, and incredibly popular one, was the target. interestingly, the european parliament was going to be discussing the vote due to have taken place in westminster, the vote that has been delayed. there was a full turnout of the european parliament and that debate was postponed because the vote had been delayed. the european parliament is still very much in lockdown. a lot

of concern about evacuating this area and police are very much saying that this area needs to be evacuated from the north. the market itself was on a little island, the grande ile, almost surrounded by a river, so it would have been quite difficult for the gunman to make his escape out but it is believed he has escaped down to the area where his apartment was, what is believed to be his apartment, an apartment that had been raided earlier on on tuesday morning. the gunman was on a list, the so—called f list, a maximum—security list where security services are monitoring people who had been radicalised. this is a list of around 400,000 people. it is a an

enormous list so this is one person who was on the list but obviously has managed to get through, was not as closely scrutinised as one may have hoped. restaurants are now being evacuated from the area and traffic and the people leaving is a concern but as i say we are getting appeals from the police, the local police for this area deigning to leave the area via the north. do not go south, do not go south—east and at all cost of void the neudorf area because that is still an active and ongoing search operation for the gunman. president macron has arrived. he is overseeing developments and is

concerned about what is happening, understandably, given the number of attacks that have been taking place in france. once again we are talking about terror on a french street, this time in strasbourg with as many as four people who may have been killed. and just to reiterate what hearing from the afp news agency and reuters quoting the mayor of strasbourg who says that three or four people are currently in critical condition in hospital and at least four people have now lost their lives in this attack. and into departmental crisis centre has been set up in strasbourg to deal with this involving all of the intelligence services, lease operations and emergency units. that is where we understand that the french president currently is, he is in attendance and getting a briefing at the next

—— about the next course of action. they say this is an incident that is an act of terrorism. but as it was just said that, the gunman was reportedly known to security forces and was part of an investigation, a man of interest. during a dawn raid on tuesday morning in which he was not present at his address in the neudorf district, in the south of strasbourg. that is still an active crime scene in terms of what the police are looking for. it is com pletely police are looking for. it is completely surrounded by police they are and police vans that have cordoned off the area and the main centre of the city is being evacuated. the area remains in lockdown as we understand according to reuters to quote police sources who say that the gunman is still on

the run. we also understand that the christmas market itself, the centre of whether shooting took place, is in lockdown and getting confirmation from the mayor of strasbourg speaking to a number of agencies saying that the christmas market will remain closed on wednesday and flags will be lowered to half—mast. he tweeted that a book of condolences will be opened at the town hall from later on wednesday and wanted to thank the people of the city for their patients and understanding. he also went on to say that he is in discussion with education authorities about the possible closure of schools on wednesday in the area. all necessary precautions are being taken in the aftermath of this incident. i should say it is still an ongoing situation, an active investigation with the gunman still on the loose. i'm joined now

byjosef, a still on the loose. i'm joined now by josef, a terrorist still on the loose. i'm joined now byjosef, a terrorist specialist with a particular knowledge about the situation in france. thank you for joining the situation in france. thank you forjoining us. what is your assessment of what is currently at work in terms of all of the emergency services and intelligence getting together in this crisis centre. so far we have seen a swift response to the attack this evening. various parts of the french state have mobilised to not only secure the area but to begin the investigation. they will currently be desperately trying to ascertain whether this is an individual working on his own or if the individual as part of a broader network. if it is part of a broader network, are there more attacks planned in the coming hours or days? these are the things they will want to establish quite quickly, in addition to trying to get their hands on this particular individual,

not an easy thing to do, even if you know he is in a small area, it is light looking for a needle in a haystack. what we know about the man is that he was 29 years of age, known to the security services, on a list with thousands of others on a watchlist, if you like, which brings up warning signs about potential terrorism links and activities. having said that, how closely would head —— would he have been watched, that he was part of a gone raid as part of a robbery investigation? this is a pa rt robbery investigation? this is a part of the problem that french authorities have, their warning system is not adequate. it has come under sustained critique inside and outside of france, even the president himself starting a terror command to get over the bureaucratic aspects of the security services.

has your reporter said, there are more than hundreds of thousands of people on this list, clearly that is not effective. there are definitely not effective. there are definitely not 100,000 dangerous, violent terrorist two within france, so clearly something there is very wrong and needs urgent detention and reform. —— terrorists. if he was on that list, it doesn't come under any obligation to monitor in at all. —— monitor him. is up to the judge, obligation to monitor in at all. —— monitor him. is up to thejudge, the judge could look at what threat does he pose, is he about to commit an act of violence, does he have trees convictions for planning violent attack, and all of that will be decided —— will be used to decide whether he should be monitored or detained. is interesting that he was pa rt detained. is interesting that he was part ofan detained. is interesting that he was part of an investigation of a robbery. one of the constant patterns in france, which plays out in other countries, is that those that carry out these attacks often have a background in the crime and it sounds as if, from what i am

hearing, that he was probably using an automatic weapon. france has a massive issue with day to day criminals robbing, using rifles at. we are still waiting on reports on the weapon used and exactly the details of the suspect in more information. in terms of that —— that watchlist, you touched on something interesting, what is the criteria to be included on a watchlist? it's actually very minimal. isjust that watchlist? it's actually very minimal. is just that you some affiliation with some kind of radical group or you are seen as posing some very abstract threat to the security of the state. people on that list include people involved in organised crime, people that are in far left orfar organised crime, people that are in far left or far right movements in france and it doesn't really say that much. it sounds as if it says a lot and definitely from the out side

it can seem to paint quite a sort of depressing picture of the state of french affairs that there are hundreds of thousands of people on this list that are possibly dangerous, but really, the barrier to entry is quite low. don't need to be that dangerous at all, to be honest. the counterterrorism prosecutor very quick to move this into their wording of a terrorist incident, as they are calling it. talk me through the process whereby an incident like this occurs and how quickly it goes from one of the shooting of unknown consequence in terms of terrorism, to that of a terrorist incident. it depends what information they have. the fact that this individual, even in a very nebulous and loose lady, is possibly connected in some way to some kind of group that engages in political violence would have been enough for them to open a terror investigation. they have information that they are not, fork operations not released,

they clearly know a lot more than we currently know so it can seem from what we seem to ascertain that there is some connection to terrorism or whether he is right wing, left—wing, islamist, or whatever particular shade of terrorist he is, he has some kind of connection. france has undergone a number of terrorist attacks and have been on high alert warnings. what for you, do you believe the situation to be in front today, compared to where we were a few years ago when the charlie hebdo attacks occurred. even though many steps the government have been taken, steps the government have been ta ken, france visibly looks steps the government have been taken, france visibly looks very different. on the streets of french cities it can see soldiers drafted in to patrol streets of french cities. on the surface, things look different, but substantially to bleak, i don't think they are in a better position. they can add people to lists, they can put laws on the

statute books that were previously pa rt statute books that were previously part of a state of emergency but it will not change the situation on the ground andi will not change the situation on the ground and i think one of the key issues they have is a lack of agile, intelligence led, notjust policing, but also the broader security services. they don't seem to get a grip on identifying threat is, getting decent intelligence and acting before the event. stay with us, i know you will be with us for a while as we continue to pour over the details here. we want to bring you the pictures that have come in french president arriving in strasbourg, this was a short time ago, as he is being flagged by his tea m ago, as he is being flagged by his team heading into an emergency session, a briefing to discuss the next course of action as this ongoing investigation continues to locate and retain the gunmen who we understand to still be at large. we understand to still be at large. we understand that and inter departmental crisis centre, as it is

called, is being set up in the city centre which is being completely evacuated as a security measure as the government remains at large, and also a number of buildings in and around strasbourg remain under lockdown as well. as far as we know, that includes the european parliament, which is based in strasbourg, and also the entire area around the christmas market which was the centre of the shooting where we know at least two people lost their lives. that also in lockdown with a huge security presence, as you would expect. we heard from the mayor of the city a short time ago, that they understand the death toll has now —— risen to four people. 3—4 are currently in serious critical condition in hospital and at least 11 others have been wounded as well. he also went on to confirm that the christmas market will be closed on wednesday and flags there will be

lowered to half—mast. this is the scene on the other side of the city a short time ago, where we believe this could be a district in the south of strasbourg, which has been the point of investigation. tuesday morning, when gone raids were carried out as part of an ongoing operation into robberies in the area. one of the buildings and apartments being searched was that which belonged to the current suspect, a 2090 robben who was not present at the time. we understand grenades were found in the property that was being searched there. we can go back to kasia in brussels. we are hearing details about the gunmen and the fact that he was a suspect in this raid on tuesday morning. we are also hearing that french media are also hearing that french media are possibly naming him and showing

pictures of the alleged suspect. we are waiting for confirmation from the authorities, but what more can you tell us about him? absolutely right. at the moment on social media there is lots of speculation as to his identity. there is an image but that has not been confirmed as to whether that is the government that police are looking. it we do know that he is 29 years old and we do know that he was on this list, this s—list, know that he was on this list, this s-list, it know that he was on this list, this s—list, it is a list of people who are considered a potential security risk, but as york guest was saying, the criteria to get on this list is pretty low. there are 400,000 people on this list, so obviously not everybody is going to be monitored all the time, it is an absolute impossibility. this s—list, people

considered a potential security risk, it is believed that police confirmed that the gunmen was at an address earlier on on tuesday morning, police had gone to his home in this district in the south—east of strasbourg, they have gone to a him fora of strasbourg, they have gone to a him for a burglary but he was not there. officers then say he had allegedly —— they had allegedly discovered grenades in a flight. it is reported that the gunmen shot at soldiers who were patrolling as part ofa soldiers who were patrolling as part of a nationwide operation, which was a french military operation produced in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in and around paris in january 2015. france very much aware of this type of terrorist attacks. police have been asking residents in the centre of strasbourg to stay in

our homes and also those leaving the centre of strasbourg not to leave the centre, not to leave that area which was the sudden —— subject of that attack via the north, because, at the south—east rather, because that would lead him to this area where it is very much a point of interest for the authorities. still an active situation and the gunmen still at large. thank you very much for that update. we will show you the scene in strasbourg at one of the scene in strasbourg at one of the government buildings there, where the president of france, emmanuel macron, is currently inside attending an emergency briefing with other security services, detailing the next course of action as the gunmen remains with the police at this hours. continue —— continue to

stay with us as would monitor the latest development. you can expect a definite chill in the air over the next few days, particularly as a biting wind picks up. for western part of the uk, there is a little bit of rain in the forecast. what we have got on a satellite picture from a little earlier on this strike of cloud. frontal system pushing in from the atla ntic frontal system pushing in from the atlantic ringing outbreaks of rain. where as we might expect a front to sweep through bringing rain for all of us, this front is running up against some resistance. this area of high pressure blocking the front‘s progress. so it won't get much further than the south—west of england, wales, northern ireland, the south—west, but elsewhere wednesday getting off to a largely dry, if cloudy start with the odd patch. do the day we should see bright conditions are spreading from the east, more in the way of sunshine, but with that is some colder air spreading from the east. the mildest weather will be in the

west, 10 degrees, belfast, in stornoway and plymouth. through wednesday evening into the night, or and more clear skies filtering through. still a patch of cloud but where skies stay clear for a moment of time. a bit chilly, you see the pale blue here on the computer chart, towns and cities around two, three, four degrees some spots in the countryside expecting a touch of frost. into thursday, is whether battleground continues. frontal systems still trying to bring rain from the west, hype pressure building bell blocking, at this stage will have an increasingly risk east or south—easterly wind and that will make it feel cold. on thursday, any will make it feel cold. on thursday, a ny wet will make it feel cold. on thursday, any wet weather really confined to the far south—west of the country, particularly pa rt the far south—west of the country, particularly part of cornwall. elsewhere, largely dry up from the odd shower spring clean to the sea coast. some spells of sunshine but look at the strength of the wind, particularly in some southern and

western areas and temperatures on the thermometer, not particularly aggressive, but add on the strength of the wind and this is what it is going to feel like. if you spend a day in the channel islands, feeling subzero, norwich and birmingham feeling like breezy. a very chilly deal to a. feeling like breezy. a very chilly dealto a. on feeling like breezy. a very chilly deal to a. on friday the wind will be lighter, it may not feel as cold either the temperatures will be low. a change as we get on into saturday because those fronts in the atlantic make more progress by this stage, seeing windy weather, wet weather for some and as the front runs into cold airare for some and as the front runs into cold air are especially over high air in the north, there could be some snow. i'm babita sharma with bbc world news. our top story. a gunman has opened fire in the french city of strasbourg, near a busy christmas market. at least four people have been killed — according to the local mayor — and more than eleven others injured. security forces engaged the gunman in a ten minute shootout — he's reportedly still at large.

much of the city, including the nearby european parliament remain closed off. officials said the attacker had been previously identified as a national security risk. local media are reporting that police raided the suspect‘s home on tuesday morning finding a number of grenades, but he managed to avoid arrest. grenades were found during the search. there are unconfirmed reports the gunman has been tracked down and cornered by police in the neudorf district. stay with us, we will bring you the latest. we will be