France’s National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT) will take over the investigation into shooting attacks that occurred this Friday (23) around 30 kilometers from Paris, which left one dead and four seriously injured.
The attacks occurred around 10:30 am (local time, 5:30 am Brasília). According to information from the EFE agency, the Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuñez, indicated that there were a total of three shooting attacks in the cities of Trappes and La Verrière, located southwest of the French capital, in the department of Yvelines.
At a press conference, the minister added that the perpetrator of the attacks, who was arrested, used an automatic weapon.
“All the resources of the security forces and the judiciary are fully mobilized,” French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said on X.
Ali Rabeh, mayor of Trappes, told broadcaster BFMTV that the attacker fired shots from inside a car. “He appeared to be shooting randomly, with the intention of committing a massacre,” he said.
According to Rabeh, one of the injured people was a 12-year-old girl and the shooter lived in a neighboring city.
The mayor, although he insisted on adopting caution about the nature of the events, indicated that the perpetrator appeared to have chosen his victims, specifically black people.
Rabeh said that the fatal victim was of African origin and that another of the injured, who is in a very serious condition, is Maghrebian.
The PNAT detailed in a statement that it opened an investigation for murder and attempted murder against people for belonging “real or supposed to a race, ethnicity, nation or religion”.
The mayor of La Verrière, Nicolas Dainville, told BFMTV that the man detained in Coignières — another nearby town — had been identified as Kevin. According to French media, he is 39 years old and is from Saint-Cyr, a city located in the same department. Security forces are checking whether he has a criminal record.
The other charges are possession of weapons and terrorist criminal association for the preparation of crimes against people.
The attack followed violent protests in France last weekend, with the Emmanuel Macron government blaming the riots on far-left groups, while right-wing leaders, such as American President Donald Trump and Marine Le Pen, of the National Regroupment (RN) party, also blamed immigration.
Le Pen stated that France is “paying for decades of anarchic immigration”, while Trump wrote on the Truth Social network that “immigrants have taken over France” and that French authorities “need to close the borders, and fast”. Macron said he considers such comments “stupid.”