One person has been killed and five others wounded – three seriously – in a gun attack in a Parisian suburb which authorities are investigating as “terrorism”.
Several drive-by shootings took place on Friday – first in Trappes to the south-west of Paris, and then in nearby La Verrière. The rampage lasted almost 15 minutes, said Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez. A12-year-old girl is among the wounded.
The suspected attacker has been arrested. The motive remains unclear, but the National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT) said the incident appeared to be “murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise”.
Nuñez told reporters in Trappes: “It’s clearly a terrorist crime, that’s what [the prosecutor] has said.”
The Mayor of Trappes, Ali Rabeh, said that “an individual fired shots from his vehicle at several people he encountered” on Friday morning.
The gunman drove through several neighbourhoods in a grey Renault Clio, according to witnesses. Rabeh said he had “fired randomly” with the seeming intent of causing “as many casualties as possible… he wanted to cause carnage”, he said.
The mayor said people had been targeted at a petrol station, a medical centre and a playground in Trappes before the attacker had driven on to nearby La Verrière.
A police union official said the suspect had been detained in La Verrière on the main N10 road that runs through the town.
Asked what the motive for the shootings may have been, the mayor of Trappes said that the victim who had died was of African origin and one of those in a critical condition was of North African descent.
The attack had a “racist, probably Islamophobic overtone”, he said.
In its own statement, the anti-terror prosecutor called for caution regarding the identity of the victims.
However, among the alleged offences covered by the investigation, the prosecutor listed “murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise” with the aggravated circumstance of acts committed because of “real or perceived membership of a particular race, ethnicity, nation or religion”.
The attacker reportedly travelled down a main road, shooting intermittently out of his car window.
A local police chief told BFMTV that the suspect had used “an older-style semi-automatic weapon” with bursts of fire. Le Parisien reports that the gun dated back to World War Two.
Rabeh said the shooter had hit a health centre, a petrol station and several vehicles during the spree.
The suspected attacker was then arrested at the nearby town of Coignières, local media report.
The interior minister said the motive of the attacker remained unclear.
The suspect, a 39-year-old, was known to police but not to France’s intelligence services, local media report.
PNAT said their investigation also includes “possession of a Category A weapon” – which includes military-grade weapons or weapons capable of firing in bursts.
The anti-terrorist office also said its investigation is looking into “conspiracy with a terrorist group for the purpose of preparing crimes against persons”.
By BBC News
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