Police control the border between Germany and France in Kehl, southern Germany on Dec. 12, 2018 the morning after a suspected extremist sprayed gunfire at one of Europe’s most famous Christmas markets in the eastern city of Strasbourg, killing three and wounding at least 13. AP
STRASBOURG, France — The German government says it has stepped up controls on the country’s border with France following Tuesday night’s attack in Strasbourg, but sees no change to the threat level in Germany.
Interior Ministry spokeswoman Eleonore Petermann said there’s no reason to stay away from Christmas markets in Germany. A Christmas market in Berlin was targeted in a deadly attack two years ago.
Petermann and Germany’s justice ministry said that German authorities had no information on links between the suspected attacker, who previously spent prison time in Germany for robbery and Islamic extremists.
The suspect, who killed at least two and injured about a dozen others Tuesday, was convicted in Germany in 2016 and reportedly deported to France in 2017. Petermann said, however, that his freedom of movement within the European Union had been removed. /ee
READ: Strasbourg shooting suspect identified