Anis Amri, the chief suspect in a December 19 truck attack on a Berlin Christmas market, has been shot dead by police in Milan.
He was reportedly killed by the police in a shootout outside Milan around 3 a.m. Friday, ending a brief but intense manhunt across Europe.
According to The New York Times, Mr. Amri, during a routine traffic stop, was asked to show identification papers. He immediately opened fire and shot the officer who had asked for his papers. The second police officer opened fire, killing Mr. Amri.
“The person who attacked our police officers was killed,” Interior Minister Marco Minniti was quoted by Euronews as telling a news conference in Rome Friday morning.
“There is absolutely no doubt that the person who was killed was Anis Amri, the suspect in the terrorist attack in Berlin,” Minniti said.
The Berlin truck attack left 12 dead.
Law enforcement authorities across Europe had been hunting since Wednesday for Mr. Amri, a 24-year-old Tunisian who moved to Italy in 2011 and then relocated to Germany in 2015.
He was described as armed and dangerous, and a reward of 100,000 euros, or about $104,000, was offered for information leading to his capture.
Mr. Amri left Tunisia, according to his relatives, with dreams of making money and buying a car. After arriving in Italy, he was a violent inmate who spent time in six jails.
In Germany, he was one of about 550 people identified as a danger to the state and placed under special surveillance.
German media reports say he travelled by train to Milan via France.
