Trappes Suspect Arrested After 15-Minute Shooting Kills One
French authorities are investigating a racially motivated attack in which a 39-year-old man fired on three locations near Paris, leaving one person dead and five others injured.
By Luana Foster ·
A 39-year-old suspect named Kevin T. was arrested on Friday after a 15-minute shooting spree in the Paris suburb of Trappes that left one person dead and five others wounded. The attack occurred in working-class communities with large immigrant populations, causing immediate concern among local residents.
The gunman began firing at approximately 10:30 am local time. He drove through Trappes and La Verriere, targeting a petrol station, a medical centre, and a children's playground. Police secured the suspect after the rampage lasted about 15 minutes. Investigators later found a World War II-era semiautomatic weapon and tear gas grenades in his vehicle.
The deceased victim has been identified as Pengo Bassio Wangi, a young Black man. Among the five injured is a 12-year-old girl of North African descent who was shot eight times. Her mother stated the girl was wearing a headscarf and had been born in Trappes. Another victim was a woman in a headscarf. Prosecutors reported that three of the injured are in critical condition.
Local MP Laurent Mazaury said the suspect told officers he wanted to 'kill foreigners.' Mazaury described the suspect as a racist. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez labelled the incident 'clearly a terrorist crime.' A member of the suspect's immediate family is also in custody while prosecutors examine potential links to a terrorist group.
President Emmanuel Macron called the event a 'racist terrorist attack' and a turning point for the nation. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu stated that all security and judicial resources were mobilized. Trappes Mayor Ali Rabeh, who has Moroccan roots, said the gunman fired at random and aimed to cause a 'bloodbath.' He noted that the victims could have been his own relatives.
The attack is occurring amid cost-of-living and student protests across France. Authorities plan to deploy 70,000 police officers on Saturday for further demonstrations. Some far-right figures have blamed Muslim youths for the unrest, while National Rally leader Marine Le Pen condemned the shooting as 'barbaric.'
Muslim groups accused the populist right of fostering hatred through Islamophobic rhetoric. They cited Le Pen's campaign proposal to fine women wearing headscarves in public. The French Muslim Council stated that promoters of anti-Muslim hate speech have 'blood on their hands.' Rabeh called politicians making negative comments about Muslims 'criminals.'
European Parliament data shows growing anti-Muslim hostility. Last week, lawmakers passed a resolution by 381 votes to 167 calling for an EU strategy against Islamist entryism. The EU's Fundamental Rights Agency reports that one in two Muslims in Europe face racial discrimination. In the US, California anti-Muslim hate crimes rose 54 percent in 2025, increasing from 24 to 38 incidents.
Source: Al Jazeera
