Gunfire erupted on the streets southwest of Paris on Tuesday when a man allegedly opened fire from his car, killing one person and injuring five others — among them a 12-year-old girl who was shot eight times — in an incident the French presidency denounced as a “racist terrorist attack”.
French President Emmanuel Macron travelled to the working-class town of Trappes, where the shooting unfolded earlier in the day in what investigators suspect may have been an assault aimed at people of foreign origin.
The Elysee presidential palace described the attack as “racist” and “terrorist”.
Trappes mayor Ali Rabeh said the suspect was “firing at random, wanting to cause a bloodbath” as he drove through Trappes and the neighbouring town of La Verriere.
Most of the victims were from foreign backgrounds, and prosecutors are examining whether the violence targeted the “real or supposed race, ethnicity, nationality or religion” of those hit.
Forensic investigators examine the scene
La Verriere mayor Nicolas Dainville said the 12-year-old girl, struck eight times, was “seriously wounded” but her condition was stable.
Police detained the suspected gunman in nearby Coignieres, according to a source familiar with the case who said the man is 39 years old.
When officers found him, he was carrying a submachine gun and tear-gas grenades, a police source said.
Anti-terrorism prosecutors said he had also rigged his flat with three gas canisters and electrical wires “connected to a timer”.
Prosecutors said they had launched an investigation for “murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise”.
Bursts of gunfire
Mr Rabeh said the suspect fired intermittently from his vehicle, and that the person killed was “of African origin”.
He added that one of the wounded, who is “in critical condition”, is “of north African origin”.
Calling for national unity as the number of injured rose from an earlier count of four, Mr Rabeh said it was “objectively a racist, probably Islamophobic attack”.
Mr Dainville said two of those wounded in his town — cleaners working at a school on Tuesday morning when the shooter got out of his car to open fire — were of African origin.
France’s interior minister, Laurent Nunez, went to both Trappes and La Verriere, describing the shooting as “clearly a terrorist crime”.
A police source said the suspect fired in bursts from his car at about 10.30am local time.
Adel, a Trappes resident about 20km west of Paris, said his “heart was broken” on learning the victims may have been chosen because of their race.
Prosecutors said they have opened an investigation for ‘murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise’
“I’m north African and it’s frightening for everyone who has the same background,” said the 50-year-old.
Another resident, Samy, told AFP he saw a body lying on the ground from his window.
He said his mother watched a grey Renault Clio speed past and then heard “loud bangs”.
‘Terrible ordeal’
Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu wrote on social media that the case was “very serious” and that “all resources of the security forces and the judiciary are fully mobilised”.
Mr Macron said earlier that “the nation is standing with” the victims of this “terrible ordeal”.
The shooting came as France remains tense after last weekend’s unrest on the fringes of large demonstrations over the cost of living, some of the worst street violence the country has seen in recent years.
Further protests are expected this weekend, and police are preparing a heavy presence after a week of overnight curfews imposed in cities across the country.
