Two days after the truck attack on a Berlin Christmas market that left 12 people dead, the suspect behind the carnage is believed to be shot dead in a shootout in the northern Italian city of Milan.
Italy's Interior Ministry called a press conference for Friday morning and informed that the man killed in a shootout with police is the main suspect of the Berlin attack, reported Associated Press.
The suspect, identified as Anis Amri, was killed at 3 in the morning in Milan's Sesto San Giovanni neighborhood during a routine police check, reports said.
He pulled a gun from his backpack after being asked to show his identity papers and was killed in the ensuing shootout. A police officer was also injured in the encounter.
Italian news agency ANSA reported that the dead man was Amri, who German authorities believe drove the truck that plowed into the Christmas market on Monday.
Citing Milan anti-terrorism police, ANSA said that authorities positively identified Amri from his physical appearance and fingerprints.
Over 50 people were also injured in Monday’s attack which was claimed by terror group Islamic State.
German authorities issued a Europe-wide wanted notice for Amri, a 24-year-old Tunisian, on Wednesday. They also offered reward for information leading to Amri's arrest, but warned he could be "violent and armed."
Authorities said that Amri has used at least six different names and three nationalities in his travels around Europe. He left Tunisia in the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings and initially spent time in Italy.
Thought to be around 24, he had been on the run since escaping after Monday's attack which left 12 people dead.
He had 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.
He was released in 2015 and made his way to Germany. Media reports in Italy say he was on 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.
