A man suspected of carrying out a gun attack that killed one person and wounded five in the Paris suburbs has been transferred from police custody to a psychiatric unit for observation, French anti-terror prosecutors said on Sunday.
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The 39-year-old suspect, identified as Kevin T., underwent a psychiatric examination on Saturday evening. Specialists will now assess whether his mental health allows investigators to resume questioning him.
The attack took place on Friday as a vehicle drove through Trappes and neighbouring La Verrière, west of Paris. President Emmanuel Macron described the shooting as a “racist terrorist attack”. Most of the victims were from foreign backgrounds.
A 26-year-old man of Congolese origin, Pengo Bossio Wangi, was killed. Among the five people wounded was a 12-year-old girl who was hit by bullets eight times. She remains in a critical condition.
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Psychiatric assessment
The French National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office, known as PNAT, had extended the suspect’s detention on Saturday so investigators could continue questioning him.
However, a psychiatric examination that evening led to his transfer to a specialist unit.
“After a psychiatric examination of Kevin T. carried out in the evening [of Saturday], his custody has been lifted,” prosecutors said.
Following the psychiatric expert’s conclusions, he “was transferred to the police psychiatric unit to be subjected to a psychiatric observation period likely to last 48 hours”.
Prosecutors said the observation period “should allow us to evaluate whether his state of psychiatric health is compatible with pursuing his interrogation sessions”.
The decision concerns his ability to undergo questioning as the anti-terror investigation continues.
PNAT also said traces of cannabis and cocaine had been found in the suspect’s blood. It did not specify what role, if any, the substances may have played in the attack.
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Searches and political tensions
Police arrested the suspect on Friday shortly after the shootings. He was found with a submachine gun and tear-gas grenades in his car.
Investigators have also searched his home in Plaisir, another town west of Paris.
According to a source close to the investigation who spoke on Saturday, officers found a Bible, a Koran and a copy of Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf”. The significance of those discoveries to the investigation has not been established.
The shooting comes at a time of deep political and social divisions in France, with an election to choose Macron’s successor due in six months. Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen is leading in opinion polls.
Tensions spilled over into riots a week ago, adding to an unsettled atmosphere ahead of the presidential vote.
(with newswires)