Not this again.

At least two people have been killed and 12 others wounded in a shooting in the eastern French city of Strasbourg.

The gunman, known to security services, is on the run and is being hunted by police. He had been injured in an exchange of gunfire with a soldier, police said.

The shooting happened close to a Christmas market near one of the central squares, Place Kléber.

France’s counter terrorism prosecutor has opened an investigation.

Go to a place where people are having a nice time – a festive winter market, a dance hall, a tourist site, a bicycle path – and open fire. The world will be a better place.

Local journalist Bruno Poussard wrote on Twitter that there had been a dozen shots fired on his street in the city centre – one or two to begin with, then in bursts.

Emmanuel Foulon, a press officer for the European Parliament, wrote that there was “panic” in the centre following the sound of gunfire and that police with guns were running through the streets.

A shopkeeper told BFM TV: “There were gun shots and people running everywhere. It lasted about 10 minutes.”

They will have learned their lesson.