A man killed in a shootout with police in Milan early Friday is the main suspect the truck attack on a Berlin Christmas market that killed 12 people, Italian news agency ANSA reported.
Italy's Interior Ministry called a press conference for Friday morning.
The shootout with suspect Anis Amri took place at 3 a.m. in Milan's Sesto San Giovanni neighborhood during a routine police check, ANSA said.
He pulled a gun from his backpack after being asked to show his identity papers and was killed in the ensuing shootout, ANSA reported.
A police officer was injured.
ANSA said various sources in Milan and Rome confirmed that the dead man was Amri, who German authorities believe drove the truck that plowed into the Christmas market Monday. Citing Milan anti-terrorism police, ANSA said authorities positively identified Amri from his physical appearance and fingerprints.
In addition to the 12 killed, 56 were injured in Monday's attack, which was claimed by the Islamic State group.
German authorities issued a Europe-wide wanted notice for Amri, a 24-year-old Tunisian, on Wednesday. They offered a reward of 100,000 euros ($105,000) for information leading to Amri's arrest, but warned he could be "violent and armed."
Authorities say Amri has used at least six different names and three nationalities in his travels around Europe.
He left Tunisia in the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings and initially spent time in Italy.
He was repeatedly transferred among Sicilian prisons for bad conduct, with prison records saying he bullied inmates and tried to spark insurrections. He served 3 ½ years for setting a fire at a refugee center and making threats, among other things — but Italy apparently detected no signs that he was becoming radicalized.
