It lasted roughly fifteen minutes. On Friday morning a man drove through two towns south-west of Paris, firing from his car at people he passed. When police finally boxed him in, one person was dead and five were wounded, three of them badly. A girl of twelve was among those hit.
The route began in Trappes, a working-class town in the Yvelines département, at around 10:30. Witnesses and local officials described a grey compact car stopping near a bus shelter, a children’s playground, a petrol station on the main road and a health centre. The driver then headed into neighbouring La Verrière, shooting near the railway station and a pharmacy, before officers detained him in Coignières.
The specialist counter-terror prosecution service, PNAT, took over within hours. Their list of suspected offences includes murder linked to a terrorist enterprise, aggravated by the possibility that victims were chosen for their real or perceived race, ethnicity or religion. Visiting the town, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez left little doubt, labelling the killing an act of terror.
The suspect is a 39-year-old French national from the area. According to French media he had a record for petty crime but was unknown to the intelligence services and had never been flagged as a security threat. Reports say he used an automatic weapon dating from the Second World War and carried tear-gas canisters; gas bottles found at his home led police to evacuate his building.
According to Trappes mayor Ali Rabeh, the person killed had roots in Africa and one of those fighting for their life has a North African background; he described the motive as likely racist and anti-Muslim. Prosecutors urged caution over victims’ identities. The wounded girl’s mother told RTL that her daughter, who wears a headscarf, needed surgery.
The shooting comes as France braces for nationwide demonstrations on Saturday, with a heavy police deployment planned.
