French anti-terror prosecutors investigate fatal shootings near Paris

A gunman fired from a car on Friday morning, 23 October, in Trappes and neighbouring La Verrière, west of Paris. President Emmanuel Macron later put the toll at one man dead and five people wounded, including a 12-year-old girl. An earlier report by Dutch news agency ANP had counted four wounded. AFP identified the man killed as 26-year-old Pengo Bossio Wangi and said the girl remained critically injured on Saturday.

Trappes mayor Ali Rabeh told BFMTV shortly after the shootings that the gunman appeared to be firing at random and, in translation, “wanted to cause a bloodbath”. Rabeh described shots fired across several neighbourhoods, but said investigators still needed to establish the motive.

His description of gunfire in different places does not settle how the victims were chosen. Le Monde reported on Saturday, citing several sources, that the suspect told officers during his arrest he had attacked Black and Arab people, claiming to avenge shopkeepers. Macron said the victims had been targeted because of their skin colour or perceived religion and described the attack as racist terrorism.

France’s national anti-terrorism prosecutor has opened an investigation into premeditated murder and attempted murder linked to terrorism, with a suspected aggravating element concerning victims’ real or perceived background, AFP reported. The 39-year-old suspect, identified as Kévin T., was arrested in Coignières on Friday. His police custody was extended on Saturday after an initial interview.