Police searched a car after shots were fired in Trappes, near Paris. A man in a car fired several shots on the street in communities near Paris. He was arrested. Photo: dpa In a suspected racially motivated attack on the street in a suburb of Paris, a man shot one person and injured five others. The attack was "objectively an attack with a racist, probably Islamophobic connotation," said the mayor of the affected town of Trappes, Ali Rabeh, on Friday. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said it was “clearly a terrorist crime.” A twelve-year-old girl is among the injured.

The French anti-terror prosecutor's office opened an investigation into "murder in connection with a terrorist organization." The crime was committed “due to actual or perceived membership of an alleged race, ethnic group, nation or particular religion.” The investigation also concerns the offense of “possession of a category A weapon,” which particularly includes automatic weapons, and “participation in a terrorist criminal organization.”

"The act was objectively an attack with racist, probably Islamophobic connotations."

According to authorities, the man opened fire in Trappes, west of Paris, and in nearby La Verrière that morning. According to the mayor of Trappes, the attacker shot from his vehicle. Mayor Rabeh told broadcaster BFMTV that the man had apparently fired randomly and wanted to cause a "bloodbath." It is "a miracle that we don't have more victims." There were “numerous shots fired in various parts of the city.”

The fatality was of “African origin,” and an injured person whose life was in danger was also of “Maghreb origin,” said Rabeh. According to the mayor of La Verrière, Nicolas Dainville, two cleaners with dark skin were among the injured.

Dainville told AFP that a 12-year-old girl was seriously injured in La Verrière. However, her condition has now stabilized.

According to police sources, the shooter was arrested shortly after the crime in nearby Coignières. Accordingly, it is a 39-year-old who lives in Plaisir, just a few kilometers from the crime scene. The man, who had a criminal record, was in possession of a submachine gun and tear gas grenades when he was arrested.

Minister Bergé said that “not the slightest discriminatory statement” could be tolerated. "We know that words can lead to violence," she added.

French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his solidarity with the victims and the residents of the two communities. France is on their side, he explained on the X online service. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu described the case on X as "very serious."

The mood in France is currently tense. At the weekend there were riots on the sidelines of demonstrations against high living costs and grievances in the education system. Thousands of shops were looted, town halls and police stations were attacked, and buildings were set on fire. In response, nighttime curfews were imposed in several major cities. AFP/nd

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