France now has an answer to the question that hung over last week’s shooting west of the capital. Kévin T., 39, told investigators he deliberately aimed at people he took to be Muslim, African or North African, France’s top counter-terror prosecutor Olivier Christen told a press briefing on Thursday.
The rampage unfolded on Friday in Trappes and neighbouring La Verrière, two towns in the Yvelines department. The gunman fired first from his car, then on foot. The man who died, Pengo Bossio Wangi, was French, aged 26 and of Congolese descent. Seven others were hurt, among them an 11-year-old girl who has since pulled through. Three victims are still in hospital and one remains in a critical state. Police detained the suspect less than 20 minutes after the first shots.
Investigators describe weeks of groundwork. From September onwards he bought parts to make an old Sten submachine gun from the Second World War more effective, along with handcuffs and a police armband. Officers searching his flat in Plaisir recovered magazines, knuckledusters, a bayonet and a silencer, plus home-made stickers praising the far-right National Rally. He admitted designing them but denied belonging to any party.
Asked why he chose Trappes, he called the town a “hideout for Islamists”. He rejects any terrorist intent, sees his actions as “legitimate” and expressed no remorse. Doctors who examined him saw nothing that would require him to be committed.
Magistrates are investigating murder and attempted murder linked to a terrorist enterprise, aggravated by the victims’ presumed origin or faith, and prosecutors want him held in custody before trial. President Emmanuel Macron had already spoken of a “racism of atmosphere” and blamed the far right for helping to feed it.
