Macron Calls Shooting Racist Terror Attack
A 39-year-old suspect is in custody after one person was killed and five wounded in a 15-minute spree.
By Maya Sokolov ·
President Emmanuel Macron said a shooting in the Paris suburbs that killed one person and wounded five others was "a racist terrorist attack." He called it a "turning point in the life of our Republic and our nation," and said France had not seen a random racial killing of this kind before. He visited the scene and said victims were chosen for their skin colour or religion.
The gunfire lasted about 15 minutes. The shooter fired from a car, starting in Trappes, south-west of Paris, then moving to the neighbouring town of La Verrière. Witnesses said he drove a grey Renault Clio through several neighbourhoods. People were hit at a petrol station, a medical centre and a playground in Trappes. A police union official said he was stopped on the main road of La Verrière. Trappes mayor Ali Rabeh said he "fired randomly" and wanted to cause "as many casualties as possible." "He wanted to cause carnage," Rabeh said.
The National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor's Office said the case appeared to involve "murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise." Its inquiry also covers possession of a Category A weapon and conspiracy with a terrorist group to prepare crimes against persons. A local police chief told BFMTV the suspect used "an older-style semi-automatic weapon." Le Parisien reported the firearm dated back to World War Two. The precise motive has not been established.
French media named the suspect as Kevin T, aged 39. The prosecutor's office said he had four prior convictions that were "automatically expunged." Local media report he 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 taken into custody on Friday.
Three of the wounded, including a 12-year-old girl, remain in serious condition. The girl's mother told broadcaster RTL that her daughter took eight gunshot wounds and needed surgery. "How could anyone do this to a child?" she asked. She said the girl wore a headscarf and wondered if that was why she was attacked.
Macron urged the public not to "give an inch" against what he called "ideologies taking root." The suspect is being held as the investigation continues.
Source: BBC News
