Italian police releases picture of Berlin attack suspect

Italian police on Tuesday released a picture of the Berlin attack suspect, Anis Amri, walking through the main train station of Milan.

The footage was taken by a surveillance camera inside Milan Central Station at 00:58 a.m. local time on Dec. 23, the police said.

Some two hours later, the 24-year-old Tunisian were shot dead in an exchange of fire with two police officers carrying out a routine patrol near the train station of Sesto S. Giovanni, on the northern outskirts of Milan.

Anis Amri is the alleged perpetrator of a terror attack against a Christmas market in the German capital Berlin on Dec. 19, which left 12 people dead and at least 48 wounded.

A 32-year-old Italian woman, Fabrizia Di Lorenzo, was among the victims. Anti-terrorism police believed the suspect had fled to Italy via France soon after the attack.

The assumption was firstly confirmed by CCTV footage taken in the French city of Lyon, which showed "a man corresponding to the killer" on a platform at the city's station on Dec. 22, according to French media.

The picture released by the Italian police would corroborate Amri's following route from Lyon to the town of Chambery, at the border with Italy, then to Milan via Turin.

Once in Milan, Amri waited for about one hour around the train station, before taking a night bus heading to Sesto San Giovanni, La Repubblica newspaper reported, citing sources of Milan anti-terrorism prosecution pool.

There were no evidences so far of possible contacts, or phone calls, made by the man during his brief stay on the Italian soil.

Amri carried no documents or mobile phone with him, but his identity was confirmed through fingerprinting, according to Italian anti-terrorism authorities.

Meanwhile, security forces in Italy were put on high alert also due to the risk of possible retribution against police officers.

Police chief Franco Gabrielli released a notice to all prefectures across the country soon after Amri was shot dead, urging officers to pay the highest attention since "revenge attacks could not be ruled out."

One of the two policemen involved in the shooting with Amri, a 36-year-old officer, was wounded in the shoulder and needed surgery. He was not in serious health conditions.

The Tunisian suspect had arrived to Italy in early 2011, claiming to be an unaccompanied minor migrant. He was jailed for about four years by Italian authorities, after setting fire to a temporary hosting center near Catania, Sicily.

He was released in May 2015, after an expulsion order was issued against him. The expulsion was never implemented, though, since Tunisia refused to take him back, according to Italian officials.

Amri was reportedly able to move to Germany later in 2015, after the expulsion order expired. Endit