UPDATED: Uh-oh! Shots ring out in French Christmas market, 4 killed

This is a breaking story. I'll update it as soon as my suspicions (and yours!) are either confirmed or denied.

A report coming in on the mojo wire from Thomson Reuters says that at least two people were killed and another eight wounded today in a shooting near a Christmas market in the eastern French city of Strasbourg. A local shopkeeper told a TV station, "There were gunshots and people running everywhere. It lasted about 10 minutes."

Police say the gunman is still at large. The French Minister of the Interior told the meeja the suspect has been identified and is known to have a criminal record. Thomson Reuters quotes a source at the local prosecutor's office as saying that an investigation is underway, and... wait for it... that the motive behind the shooting was not immediately clear.

A couple of paragraphs later, the wire service adds that France remains on high alert after a wave of attacks commissioned or inspired by Islamic State militants since early 2015, in which about 240 people have been killed. Hm.

They forgot to add that Christmas markets are favourite targets of the jihadis. Not quite two years ago, a follower of the Prophet drove a large truck into a Christmas market in the heart of Berlin, killing nine people and injuring many more, perhaps as many as 50. See "Islamist truck attack in Berlin leaves 9 dead", WWW 19/12/16.

Watch this space to see if we'll be able to substitute the words "Allahu akbar!" for "Uh-oh!" in the headline.

UPDATED ADDED at 1630 FMT: French authorities now confirm that "at least four people" have been killed, with another half dozen wounded, and counting. The dead do not include the suspect, who they are saying is a "common criminal, known to police." While the flics hunt for him, parts of Strasbourg are on lockdown and a major security operation is underway around the city's famed Christmas market.

Walt asks, if the suspect is known to police, why aren't they telling us who he is? Is it possible he's a Muslim immigrant? What they do say is that the police counter-terrorism unit has taken over the investigation. I guess that's all the answer we need. But stay tuned anyway.