PARIS: The 69-year-old suspect in the deadly Paris shooting that killed three people and injured three others at a cultural centre in central Paris Friday has admitted to having “hatred for foreigners that has become pathological,” Al Jazeera reported on Sunday citing the French officials.
According to the Paris Public Prosecutor’s office, the suspect wanted to kill the migrants or foreigners which is why he also shot three Kurds in Paris.
The 69-year-old man had “always wanted to kill migrants or foreigners”, the Paris public prosecutor’s office said on Sunday. The reason for it has come out to be as a burglary which took place at the suspect’s home six years ago, resorting to which he set out on Friday morning aiming to kill migrants or foreigners and then himself, according to Al Jazeera.
The suspect, a former train driver, was apprehended at the scene and taken to a psychiatric facility on Saturday, however, his identity has not been revealed yet.
Following the deadly attack, violence broke out between the protesters and police in Paris on the second day, according to The New York Post. The protesters overturned vehicles, setting some of them on fire, and threw objects at police, who responded with tear gas.
Hundreds of Kurdish demonstrators joined French politicians, including the mayor of the 10th district, to pay tribute to the victims in Paris’ central square, where protests are usually held.
“We are not being protected at all. In 10 years, six Kurdish activists have been killed in the heart of Paris in broad daylight,” Berivan Firat, a spokesperson for the Kurdish Democratic Council in France, political group, told BFM TV at the demonstration, according to The New York Post.
Earlier, on Saturday, the custody of the suspected gunman (69), was lifted for health reasons and he was taken to a police psychiatric unit, the prosecutor said, reported France24.
“The doctor who examined the suspect today in the late afternoon said that the state of health of the person concerned was not compatible with the measure of custody,” the Paris prosecutor said.
President Emmanuel Macron said France’s Kurdish community had been the target of a heinous attack, while Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said that the suspected assailant had clearly wanted to target foreigners.
Friday’s murders came ahead of the anniversary of the killings of three Kurdish women in Paris in January 2013. (ANI)