Shooting with possible racist motive near Paris leaves one dead and five wounded, including a 12-year-old girl

PARIS, October 23.— A gunman firing from a vehicle killed one person and wounded five others, including a 12-year-old girl, on Friday morning in the Paris suburbs of Trappes and La Verrière, in an attack French authorities are investigating as a possible terrorist crime with a racist motive.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez spoke of a “terrorist crime” and a “murderous rampage” that unfolded at three separate locations in under 15 minutes, using what appears to have been an automatic or military-grade weapon. The attacker, a 39-year-old man, was arrested and taken into police custody after firing near a gas station, a playground and a medical center, according to The Associated Press.

The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's office took charge of the case and opened an investigation into murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise, aggravated by the act having been committed on account of the victims' actual or perceived membership of a particular race, ethnic group, nationality or religion. Trappes Mayor Ali Rabeh said the person killed was of African origin and one of the seriously wounded was of North African origin, calling the attack “probably one of the first attempted mass killings motivated by Islamophobia and racism.”

President Emmanuel Macron expressed his “deep sorrow” and visited Trappes on Friday evening to stand with the victims. The attack comes amid a tense climate, on the eve of Saturday protests against the cost of living, with major museums closed and a reinforced security deployment across the country.

Photo: AP

Source: The Associated Press