French Authorities Label Trappes Rampage a Racist Terrorist Attack
A 39-year-old man was arrested after driving through two Paris suburbs and firing an automatic weapon, killing one person and seriously injuring five others, including a 12-year-old girl.
By Aiko Soto ·
Police arrested a 39-year-old man identified as Kevin T. on Friday after a 15-minute shooting spree in the Paris suburbs of Trappes and La Verriere. The attack left one person dead and five others injured. French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez stated that the incident was clearly a terrorist crime.
The shooting began at 10:30 a.m. local time. The suspect drove through the two working-class communities, which have large immigrant and Muslim populations, and fired an automatic weapon at a petrol station, a medical centre, and a children's playground. Prosecutors said three of the five injured people are in critical condition.
The victim who died was named Pengo Bassio Wangi, a young Black man. Among the wounded is a 12-year-old girl of North African descent who was shot eight times. Her mother said the girl was moved to a children's hospital for surgery. The mother also reported that her daughter was wearing a headscarf at the time.
Local MP Laurent Mazaury said the suspect told officers he wanted to kill foreigners. Mazaury described the attacker as a racist person. French media reported that another wounded person was a woman wearing a headscarf. A member of the suspect's immediate family circle has also been taken into custody while prosecutors examine whether he conspired with a terrorist group.
Investigators found an older-style semiautomatic weapon from the World War II era in the suspect's car. They also recovered tear gas grenades. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu called the case very serious and said all security and judicial resources were fully mobilised.
President Emmanuel Macron described the incident as a racist terrorist attack and a turning point for the Republic. He said France remained determined to fight racism in all its forms. Trappes mayor Ali Rabeh, who has Moroccan roots, said the gunman was firing at random and wanted to cause a bloodbath. Rabeh called the attack objectively racist and probably Islamophobic.
The girl's mother told broadcaster RTL that she did not understand how anyone could do this to a child. She asked whether her daughter was targeted because of her headscarf and stressed that the girl was born in Trappes. The attack comes as cost-of-living and student protests grip the country, with authorities planning to deploy 70,000 police officers on Saturday.
