Residents react during a gathering being held in a central square of the eastern French city of Strasbourg, Sunday Dec.16, 2018 to pay homage to the victims of a gunman who killed four people and wounded a dozen more. The gathering was held in Kleber Square by a Christmas market and near where the gunman opened fire last Tuesday evening. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
The Associated Press
PARIS (AP) - A French judicial official says the alleged gunman who shot and killed five people in a Christmas market attack this month in Strasbourg had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.
The judicial official, who is not authorized to speak publicly about the investigation, said investigators have found a video stored on a USB key in which Cherif Chekatt had claimed allegiance to the extremist group. The video was at Chekatt's home.
Chekatt, 29, died in a shootout with police two days after his Dec. 11 attack at Strasbourg's popular Christmas market.
Shortly after his death, the Islamic State group's Amaq news agency claimed he was a "soldier" of the group. French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner had rejected the claim as "totally opportunistic."
Residents react during a gathering in a central square of the eastern French city of Strasbourg, Sunday Dec.16, 2018 to pay homage to the victims of a gunman who killed four people and wounded a dozen more. The gathering was held in Kleber Square by a Christmas market and near where the gunman opened fire last Tuesday evening. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
The Associated Press
Residents react during gathering being held in a central square of the eastern French city of Strasbourg, Sunday Dec.16, 2018 to pay homage to the victims of a gunman who killed four people and wounded a dozen more. The gathering was held in Kleber Square by a Christmas market and near where the gunman opened fire last Tuesday evening. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
The Associated Press
A portrait of Antonio Megalizzi, the Italian reporter killed during a terrorist attack in Strasbourg, is placed next to a candle at the church 'Cristo Re' in Trento, Northern Italy, Wednesday, Dec. 19 2018. Megalizzi and four other people died and several others were injured in a terror attack on Dec. 11 at a Christmas Market in Strasbourg, France. (Daniel Dal Zennaro/ANSA via AP)
The Associated Press
People once against in the streets as Strasbourg's Christmas market reopens under the protection of police, in Strasbourg, France, Saturday Dec. 15, 2018. French police shot and killed the man who they believed attacked Strasbourg's Christmas market on Tuesday killing four people. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
The Associated Press
Residents react during a gathering in a central square of the eastern French city of Strasbourg, Sunday Dec.16, 2018 to pay homage to the victims of a gunman who killed four people and wounded a dozen more. The gathering was held in Kleber Square by a Christmas market and near where the gunman opened fire last Tuesday evening. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
The Associated Press