French President Emmanuel Macron has labelled a gun attack in a Parisian suburb which killed one person and injured five others “a racist terrorist attack”.
Macron said the attack was a “turning point in the life of our Republic and our nation” – the first time there has ever been a random racial killing like this.
The attack unfolded over some 15 minutes with the attacker opening fire from his car – first in Trappes to the south-west of Paris, and then in nearby La Verrière – appearing to target people of migrant origin. He was subsequently arrested.
Three of those injured, including a 12-year-old girl, remain in a serious condition.
Visiting the scene of the attack in Trappes, Macron said people had been targeted for their skin colour or religion and urged the public not to give an inch in the face of what he called “ideologies taking root”.
The exact motive remains unclear, but the National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT) said the incident appeared to be “murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise”.
The suspect has been named in French media as Kevin T who, according to PNAT, had four previous convictions which had been “automatically expunged”.
The 39-year-old was known to police but not to France’s intelligence services, local media report.
He was not on a list of individuals considered to be a serious threat to French security, the national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office told BFMTV.
A member of the suspect’s “immediate family circle” was also taken into custody on Friday, it added.
The Mayor of Trappes, Ali Rabeh, said that “an individual fired shots from his vehicle at several people he encountered” on Friday morning.
The gunman drove through several neighbourhoods in a grey Renault Clio, according to witnesses. Rabeh said he had “fired randomly” with the seeming intent of causing “as many casualties as possible… he wanted to cause carnage”, he said.
The mayor said people had been targeted at a petrol station, a medical centre and a playground in Trappes before the attacker had driven on to nearby La Verrière.
A police union official said the suspect had been detained in La Verrière on the main N10 road that runs through the town.The mother of the injured 12-year-old told French broadcaster RTL her daughter suffered eight gunshot wounds and needed surgery.
“How could anyone do this to a child?” she asked.
The mother said her daughter had been wearing a headscarf and questioned whether this was why she was attacked.
“She’s a child who was born in France, in Trappes. She has the right to live in France, to make her life in France,” she added.
The attacker reportedly travelled down a main road, shooting intermittently out of his car window.
A local police chief told BFMTV that the suspect had used “an older-style semi-automatic weapon” with bursts of fire. Le Parisien reports that the gun dated back to World War Two.
PNAT said its investigation also includes “possession of a Category A weapon” – which includes military-grade weapons or weapons capable of firing in bursts.
The anti-terrorist office also said its investigation is looking into “conspiracy with a terrorist group for the purpose of preparing crimes against persons”.
