PARIS (AP) — A gunman firing from a vehicle at three locations in the Paris suburbs killed one person and wounded at least five others, including a 12-year-old girl, in what French authorities described as a racially motivated attack.
The suspect was arrested soon after the shooting, and France’s National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s office took charge of the case. President Emmanuel Macron said it was “a racist terror attack“ and that the suspect’s statements suggested it was premeditated.
“These people were targeted because of their skin color or perceived religion, and for no other reason,” Macron said following a meeting with officials and residents in the suburb of Trappes, west of Paris. “There is no place for this in France.”
The shootings took place over the course of about 15 minutes at three separate locations in the towns of Trappes and La Verrière, a suburban area about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from Paris, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said. One person died and five were wounded, three of them with life-threatening injuries, he said.
“A deadly rampage took place this morning,” Nuñez told reporters in Trappes.
The suspect, who was arrested by police less than 20 minutes after he first started shooting, has been identified only as Kévin T., born in 1987, the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s office said. Authorities did not disclose the man’s last name.
His criminal record shows four previous convictions that had been automatically expunged under French law, the statement said.
A search of his car uncovered a Sten-type submachine gun and a canister of tear gas, and investigators found his apartment had been booby-trapped with three gas cylinders and electrical wires connected to a timer, according to the Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s office.
Another person, a member of the suspect’s immediate family, also was taken into police custody during the afternoon, it said.
The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s office said the person who died was a French man born in 2000. The medical condition of the people injured had not yet stabilized on Friday evening, it said.
Nuñez praised the five officers from the anti-crime brigade who stopped the suspect. “I commend them for their swift response,” he said.
Aurore Bergé, the minister for gender equality and fight against discriminations, said the 12-year-old girl was very seriously injured.
“If a racist motive is established, I hope that the whole nation will stand alongside the residents of Trappes, La Verrière, and the victims. We cannot tolerate even the slightest racist remark in the French Republic,” she said.
Trappes Mayor Ali Rabeh said the gunman appeared to have fired relatively randomly, targeting passersby at several locations including a playground, possibly because of their apparent African origin.
“This is probably one of the first attempted mass killings motivated by Islamophobia and racism,” he told reporters.
The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s office said it opened a criminal investigation into several offenses, including “murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise with the aggravating circumstance that the act was committed on account of the victim’s actual or perceived membership of a particular race, ethnic group, nationality or religion.”
The shooting happened as France braces for another day of protests against the high cost of living on Saturday, with major museums closing their doors and the government deploying a significantly larger security presence to prevent a repeat of last week’s violent unrest, which shocked the country.