French President Calls Trappes Shooting a Racist Terrorist Attack
One person was killed and five were wounded in a 15-minute shooting spree across two Paris suburbs.
By Xiaoyu Wang ·
France is investigating a shooting spree in two towns southwest of Paris as a terrorist matter after one person died and five others were wounded over about 15 minutes.
The gunfire began in Trappes before continuing into neighbouring La Verrière. Three of the wounded, including a 12-year-old girl, are in serious condition. The girl's mother told broadcaster RTL that her daughter took eight bullet wounds, underwent surgery and had been wearing a headscarf at the time.
President Emmanuel Macron visited the scene and called the incident "a racist terrorist attack." He said victims were selected because of their skin colour or religion, and described it as a turning point for the Republic. The National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor's Office opened a case covering murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise, possession of a Category A weapon and conspiracy with a terrorist group.
French media have named the suspect as 39-year-old Kevin T. He had four prior convictions that were automatically expunged, and was known to police but not to the country's intelligence services. The prosecutor's office told BFMTV he was not on a list of people considered a serious threat to French security. A member of his immediate family circle was also detained on Friday.
Witnesses reported a grey Renault Clio moving through several neighbourhoods. Trappes mayor Ali Rabeh said the driver "fired randomly" at a petrol station, a medical centre and a playground before reaching La Verrière, where a police union official said he was stopped on the town's main road. A local police chief told BFMTV the weapon was an older-style semi-automatic firearm, and Le Parisien reported it dated to the Second World War.
Source: BBC News
