It was end of the road for the 24 –year-old Tunisian born terrorist Anis Amri, who had attacked a Christmas market in Berlin, Germany, as he was shot dead by the police in Milan on Friday during a gun duel.
The shootout took place at 3 am in Milan’s Sesto San Giovanni neighbourhood during a routine police check.
It was learnt that Amri was stopped for routine check by the police instead he pulled a pistol from his backpack and shot the police necessitating a quick response which led to the death of the suspect.
According to the Italy’s interior minister Marco Minniti said “The Tunisian man suspected of carrying out the deadly Berlin truck attack at the Christmas market was shot dead by police on Friday in Milan.
Fingerprints have proven that the dead young man was the one that attacked Berlin Christmas market in Germany. He said Amri had coolly pulled the weapon from a backpack and began shooting.
One of the officers was said to have been hit on the shoulder during the exchanges, but was taken to the hospital for surgery, the minister said.
Italy had Amri’s fingerprints on file as a result of him having been in prison in Sicily between 2011 and 2015. Thought to be around 24, he had been on the run since escaping after Monday’s attack which left 12 people dead and over 25 people injured.
It was gathered that Amri arrived in Italy from his native Tunisia during the Arab Spring in 2011. Shortly after his arrival he was sentenced to a prison term for starting a fire in a refugee centre but was later released in 2015 and made his way to Germany.
The dead suspect has been on the anti-terrorism police’s radar as a potential Islamist radical during his time in prison but was not considered a high-priority subject for monitoring, it was further learnt.