BREAKING NEWS: Italian police gun down fugitive Berlin killer screaming 'Allahu Akbar' after he shoots officer who spotted him in Milan after four days on the run

Berlin truck terrorist Anis Amri has been shot dead after a gunfight with police in Milan in the early hours of this morning, Italian police have said.

The Tunisian pulled a gun from his backpack, screamed 'Allahu Akbar' and opened fire on two officers – hitting one in the shoulder – before being shot dead moments after getting off a train from France. 

Amri had been on the run for four days after ploughing a lorry into crowds of revellers enjoying a Christmas market in Berlin on Monday night, killing 12 and maiming dozens of others. ISIS later claimed one of its 'soldiers' carried out the atrocity.

The 24-year-old was stopped by a routine police patrol in the suburb of Sesto San Giovanni in the northern Italian city of Milan at about 3am local time.

Two officers asked him for ID documents, at which point Amri 'immediately' pulled a gun from his backpack and shot one of the policemen in the shoulder.

A firefight ensued with Amri cowering behind a car as he tried to flee, but the suspect was shot and killed by the other officer – a trainee who had only been in the job a few months.

An Italian minister said today they had 'without a shadow of a doubt' killed the chief suspect in the Berlin massacre. Authorities believe Amri, who used at least six different aliases with three nationalities, was trying to flee to southern Italy where he had entered Europe in 2011.

It comes hours after two men were arrested at a mosque in Berlin where Amri is believed to have been seen both before and after the atrocity. 

Amri ran for cover and cowered behind a car in a piazza near the station before being shot dead by trainee officer Luca Scata, 29, who had reportedly only been in the job for a matter of months.

This morning, Scata was praised for his actions and had received hundreds of messages from wellwishers

Scata's last Facebook post, put up shortly before he shot the terror suspect, stated: 'Only on the road the sun is shining and there are no shadows.'

It has since been inundated with comments from grateful Italians hailing him a hero and thanking him for his actions. 

Police, who had received a tip-off Amri may have been in the city, approached Amri because they were suspicious that anyone was at the station at 3am. 

The terminal was reportedly closed and officials are trying to work out whether he may in fact have arrived in the suburb, north of the city, by bus.

When the patrol approached him, he pulled a 22 calibre pistol from his backpack and shot one of the two police officers, Cristian Movio, 36, in the shoulder. 

The suspect, Europe's most wanted man, tried to run but he was shot dead in the road.

On his body police found a train ticket that helped reconstruct the attacker's movements in Berlin, revealing how he took a train from Chambery in France and then from Turin to Milan.

But it is not



clear whether he had driven from Berlin to Chambery or taken a 1,000-mile train trip all the way to Milan via Frankfurt - the normal rail route to the south of France. 

This morning, it emerged that the Polish driver of the hijacked Berlin lorry was shot in the head on Monday night with a similar-sized gun to the one Amri used in Italy. 

Movio was taken to San Gerardo Hospital in Monza for emergency treatment where he is said to be recovering.

Prior to the shooting in Milan, Amri's last known location was a mosque in Berlin, where he was seen just hours after the atrocity. 

Amri was captured on CCTV outside the place of worship in the city's Moabit neighbourhood just eight hours after the Christmas market massacre.

Images show a man in dark clothing and a cap standing in a doorway in the early hours of Tuesday, German public broadcaster rbb reported. 

He was also seen at the same mosque on two different days in the week leading up to the atrocity.

Intelligence sources later confirmed that they believed the man in the CCTV footage to be Amri. 

Other pictures emerged of the mosque after it was raided by police who used stun grenades as they entered the building.

The door was seen hanging on its hinges, and a rudimentary attempt to fix it, with pieces of wood and masking tape appeared to have been abandoned.

A window in the hall outside the mosque, which was covered with graffiti and dirt, had been smashed.

Photos of the scene showed Amri's body lying on the ground surrounded by armed police. The corpse was later covered with a blanket and the square outside the station sealed off as a crime scene.

Interior minister Marco Minniti said there was 'no doubt' the dead man was Anis Amri.

He told journalists at a Rome press conference: 'This was a routine patrol and the officers saw what appeared to be the Berlin suspect.

'Without any hesitation he pulled a gun from his bag and fired at the police. Christian Movio was hit in the shoulder. The police officer Luca Scata responded and the suspect was killed. 

'Without a shadow of a doubt this was Anis Amri'. 

He hailed the two police officers as 'heroes' who had ensured 'all Italians can have a happier Christmas because of their bravery'.

German police appear to have completely misjudged the distance Amri was able to travel after the attack on Monday night.

This morning, before his death was announced, a senior police source told tabloid Bild: ‘We believe he is either in Berlin or in North Rhine-Westphalia’. 

Germany's interior ministry spokesman said the country was 'relieved' by reports the terrorist was dead.

'There are growing signs that this is actually the person (wanted in the attack). Should this be proved true, the ministry is relieved that this person no longer poses a danger,' the spokesman, Tobias Plate.