PARIS: A shooting incident across the Paris suburbs of Trappes and La Verrière on Friday left one person dead and five others critically injured, including a 12-year-old girl, CNN reported.
French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the incident. Addressing media personnel, President Macron termed the incident an alarming shift, stating, “What happened today is, I am telling you, a turning point, because it is the first time we have had a terrorist act that was planned to kill our compatriots, our children, based on the colour of their skin or their religion.”
The French President also took to social media platform X to express his sorrow and solidarity with the affected communities. “Deep emotion following the shooting attack that occurred in Trappes and La Verrière. One person has died. Several others are seriously injured. Our thoughts go out to the victims, their families, and all the residents of Yvelines,” Macron wrote.
A gunman has killed one person and wounded five others, including a 12-year-old girl, in a shooting in a Paris suburb that French President Emmanuel Macron described as a “terrorist and racist” attack.
“What happened today is, I am telling you, a turning point, because it is the first time we have had a terrorist act that was planned to kill our compatriots, our children, based on the colour of their skin or their religion,” Macron told reporters.
The shooting happened earlier on Friday when the gunman fired an automatic weapon at a petrol station, a medical centre and a children’s playground in Trappes, on the Paris outskirts.
Officials said a 39-year-old suspect, whom they named as Kevin T, had been arrested. Broadcaster BFM said the wounded 12-year-old girl had been hit eight times and was in serious condition.
The shooting comes at a moment of particular tension in France, after nationwide protests turned violent last Saturday. Some far-right politicians have blamed immigration for looting and vandalism.
Trappes Mayor Ali Rabeh said the shooting was “racist” and “Islamophobic” and that the person fired sporadically from his car to kill people “of African origin”.
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Commending the prompt response of the security personnel, he added, “In this terrible ordeal, the Nation stands by their side. Recognition to our law enforcement forces who have already proceeded with the arrest of the perpetrator. The national antiterrorist prosecutor’s office has taken charge.”
According to CNN, the assailant opened fire with an automatic weapon across multiple locations in Trappes, on the southwestern outskirts of Paris, targeting a petrol station, a medical centre, and a children’s playground.
Authorities subsequently apprehended a 39-year-old suspect, identified by officials as Kevin T. In line with standard French judicial protocol during criminal investigations, his full surname was withheld. France’s National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office has taken over the investigation into the attack. (ANI)
