Macron calls Paris-area shooting that killed one a 'racist terrorist attack' as suspect is arrested

On Friday morning, a grey Renault Clio moved through the Paris suburb of Trappes, and someone inside it was firing out of the window. Over roughly fifteen minutes, the driver shot at people he met along the way, first in Trappes, south-west of Paris, and then in the neighbouring town of La Verrière. One person was killed and five were wounded.

The mayor of Trappes, Ali Rabeh, said the man fired from his vehicle at several people he encountered. According to Rabeh, the shooting was random, and the gunman wanted to cause as many casualties as possible. In his words, he wanted to cause carnage. The mayor said people were hit at a petrol station, a medical centre and a playground in Trappes before the attacker drove on to La Verrière. Witnesses described the grey Clio moving through several neighbourhoods. The attacker reportedly shot intermittently from the window as he went along a main road.

A police union official said the suspect was detained in La Verrière, on the N10, the main road running through the town. French media have named him as Kevin T. He is 39. The national anti-terrorist prosecutor's office, PNAT, said he had four previous convictions, which had been automatically expunged. Local media report he was known to police but not to the intelligence services, and PNAT told BFMTV he was not on a list of people considered a serious threat to national security. A member of his immediate family circle was also taken into custody on Friday.

The weapon is part of what investigators are examining. A local police chief told BFMTV the suspect used an older-style semi-automatic weapon, firing in bursts. Le Parisien reports the gun dates back to the Second World War. PNAT said its inquiry includes possession of a Category A weapon, a class that covers military-grade arms and weapons capable of firing in bursts.

President Emmanuel Macron visited the scene in Trappes and called the shooting a racist terrorist attack. He said people were targeted for their skin colour or religion, that it was a turning point in the life of the Republic and the nation, and that it was the first time France had seen a random racial killing of this kind. He urged the public not to give an inch to what he called ideologies taking root. The attacker appears to have aimed at people of migrant origin.

Prosecutors are more cautious. PNAT said the exact motive remains unclear, but that the incident appeared to be murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise. Its investigation also covers conspiracy with a terrorist group for the purpose of preparing crimes against persons.

Three of the wounded remain in serious condition, among them a 12-year-old girl. Her mother told the broadcaster RTL that the girl suffered eight gunshot wounds and needed surgery. She asked how anyone could do this to a child. The girl was wearing a headscarf, and her mother wondered aloud whether that was why she was shot. She said her daughter was born in France, in Trappes, and has the right to live and make her life there.

What comes next is largely in prosecutors' hands: what charges the suspect faces, what his background and any connections turn out to be, and why a relative was detained. The condition of the three seriously injured victims is also still uncertain.