A gunman opened fire from a car on Friday morning in the Paris suburbs of Trappes and La Verrière, killing one person and wounding five others, including a 12-year-old girl who was shot eight times and remained in a serious condition, French authorities said.
President Emmanuel Macron visited the scene on Friday evening and described the attack as a “racist terrorist attack,” saying it marked a turning point for the country. “What happened today is, I am telling you, a turning point, because it is the first time we have had a terrorist act that was planned to kill our compatriots, our children, based on the colour of their skin or their religion,” he told reporters.
A 15-minute rampage
The shooting began around 10 a.m. when the gunman, identified by prosecutors only as Kevin T., 39, drove through the two towns southwest of Paris in a gray Renault Clio, firing an antique automatic weapon at a petrol station, a medical centre and a children’s playground, among other locations. Police arrested him about 20 minutes later in the nearby town of Coignières.
Investigators said the suspect had booby-trapped his apartment in Plaisir with three gas canisters and electrical wires connected to a timer. His criminal record includes 13 entries for ordinary offenses, the most recent in 2013, and he was not previously known to domestic intelligence for any far-right links, according to a police source cited by Le Monde.
Investigators probe racial motive
France’s national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office, known as PNAT, has taken over the investigation to determine whether the victims were targeted because of their “real or supposed race, ethnicity, nationality or religion.” Macron said the gunman had deliberately spared some people because of their skin color and appearance.
Trappes mayor Ali Rabeh called the shooting “racist” and “Islamophobic.” “The people targeted today could just as easily have been my mother, my brothers or my sisters-in-law,” he said. Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally, condemned the attack on X as “a criminal act of a terrorist nature, aggravated by the vile motive of racism.”
Tense moment in France
The attack came after nationwide protests turned violent last Saturday and ahead of further demonstrations planned for this weekend. The investigation into the motive is ongoing, and prosecutors said the condition of the wounded had not yet stabilized by Friday evening.
Sources: Le Monde; CNN; The Wall Street Journal.
