Christmas Market Gunman Shot Dead By French Police (Photo)

Cherif Chekatt, the suspect in the shooting in Strasbourg, France. Picture: French Police/APSource:AP

The French police on Thursday have shot dead a gunman who had been on the run since killing three people at Strasbourg’s Christmas market as the Islamic State jihadist group claimed him as one of its "soldiers".

Chekatt who had 27 criminal convictions, receiving the first at age 13, allegedly shouted “God is great!” in Arabic and sprayed gunfire during Tuesday’s rampage, where he also wounded 13 people.

Over 700 French security forces had been hunting for the callous 29-year-old Cherif Chekatt since the bloodshed on Tuesday night.

Some minutes before Cherif Chekatt was shot dead on Thursday evening local time, a helicopter with powerful searchlight flew over Neudorf.

According to the Interior Minister, Christophe Castaner, three police tried to question Chekatt after spotting him on the street in the Neudorf area of the northeastern French city where he grew up, but he opened fire.

“The police immediately returned fire and neutralized the assailant,” Castaner said.

People gathered at the police cordon where Chekatt was shot and applauded, some shouting "bravo!", a source said.

"It's really a huge relief," said Alain Fontanel, a local official in the mayor's office, describing the anxiety that locals had felt since Tuesday's attack.

"We didn't really feel very safe," one 18-year-old local named Arthur told AFP.

France has been hit by a wave of attacks from people claiming allegiance to Al Qaeda or IS since 2015, which have claimed the lives of nearly 250 people.