Madar (International) - French President Emmanuel Macron described a shooting that killed one person and wounded others on Friday, October 23, 2026, in the towns of Trappes and La Verriere, about 20 kilometres west of Paris, as "a terrorist and racist attack", saying the victims were targeted because of their religion and the colour of their skin and that the attack "marks a turning point", Deutsche Welle reported, citing news agencies.
According to an initial toll from local authorities, four people were wounded, three of them critically, including a 12-year-old girl. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said the gunman fired from his car at three locations over about 15 minutes, using "what appears to have been a military-grade weapon, or at least an automatic weapon", calling it "clearly a terrorist crime".
Trappes mayor Ali Rabeh said the person killed was of African origin and one of those critically wounded was of North African origin, adding that the attack had "racist, likely Islamophobic, overtones". According to the BBC, he said a petrol station, a medical centre and a playground were targeted. The injured girl's mother told RTL her daughter had suffered eight gunshot wounds and had been wearing a headscarf, asking whether that was why she was attacked.
The suspect, identified as Kevin T., born in 1987 and with a criminal record, was arrested. France's National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office said a WWII-era Sten gun and a tear gas grenade were found in his car and that his apartment had been booby-trapped. It opened an investigation into "murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise", with the aggravating circumstance that the victims were targeted for their actual or perceived race, ethnicity, nation or religion.
