The shoppers, many of them children, ran screaming for safety in the panic as the gunman, named as career criminal Nordine Amrani, 33, opened fire.
The dead included an 17-month old girl who lost her fight for survival in hospital this evening. Other victims included a 15-year-old boy, a 17-year-old girl, a 20-year-old man and a 75-year-old woman were confirmed as the other victims.
Police said tonight that the killer was a convicted sex attacker and drug dealer, who had recently been released from prison.
Men, women and children fled down the streets of the city centre - some still carrying shopping bags as ambulances and police descended on the area.
Reports said Amrani,33,of Moroccan descent used an FN FAL automatic rifle, a Belgian made rifle capable of firing 700 rounds a minute, a pistol and threw three grenades in the attack.
In the initial chaos, reports said up to three men had taken part in the attack, but the Interior Ministry later confirmed only one was involved, adding the incident was not terrorism-related.
Amrani was on his way for police questioning when he attacked a crowd near a bus stop at Place Saint Lambert, a central shopping square which is the site of the city's Christmas market and its main courthouse. It was not clear whether he committed suicide or died accidentally.
Police were on the scene quickly and sealed off the square. TV images showed blood splattered across the cobblestones.
Nordine Amrani was a career criminal who was recently released from prison early for keeping an 'arsenal' of weapons in his cramped council flat, it emerged tonight
SOURCE:Reuters
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