France investigates deadly shooting attack near Paris as unrest in the country continued.
According to France24, authorities said a gunman firing from his car killed one person and wounded four in the Paris suburb of Trappes on Friday, October 23, with at least two victims from immigrant backgrounds and prosecutors investigating the case as a potential “terrorist” act.
The man, who was arrested shortly after, was “firing at random, wanting to cause a bloodbath” as he drove through Trappes and neighbouring La Verrière, Trappes mayor Ali Rabeh told broadcaster BFMTV.
A 12-year-old girl was “seriously wounded” after being shot eight times, but is in stable condition, the mayor of La Verrière, Nicolas Dainville, told AFP.
The alleged shooter, a 39-year-old man, according to a source familiar with the case, was arrested in the nearby town of Coignieres.
France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said the shooting was “clearly a terrorist crime”, adding it was “a racist, probably Islamophobic attack."
Rabeh said that while the man was firing in a “relatively random” manner, the person killed was “of African origin” and one of the wounded, “in critical condition, is of north African origin.”
The mayor added that he did not want to say anything “definitive” about the motive yet but added that it was a “miracle” that there were not more casualties.
Prosecutors said they have opened an investigation for “murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise”.
They added that they were investigating whether the acts targeted the “real or supposed race, ethnicity, nationality or religion” of the victims.
Writing on X, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said the case was “very serious” and that “all resources of the security forces and the judiciary are fully mobilised”.
President Emmanuel Macron said “the nation is standing with” the victims of this “terrible ordeal”.
The shooting came with France on edge following riots on the sidelines of mass protests over the cost of living, which saw some of the worst street violence in recent years.
