French President Emmanuel Macron has labelled a gun attack in a Parisian suburb which killed one person and injured five others “a racist terrorist attack”.
Macron said the attack was a “turning point in the life of our Republic and our nation” as he declared “this has no place in France”.
Several drive-by shootings took place on Friday – first in Trappes to the south-west of Paris, and then in nearby La Verrière – and a 12-year-old girl was among the injured.
Officials say the attack lasted almost 15 minutes and left three people with serious injuries, while the suspected attacker has been arrested.
The motive remains unclear, but the National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT) said the incident appeared to be “murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise”.
The suspect has been named in French media as Kevin T, who according to PNAT had four previous convictions which had been “automatically expunged”.
A member of the suspect’s “immediate family circle” was also taken into custody on Friday, it added.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez told reporters in Trappes: “It’s clearly a terrorist crime, that’s what [the prosecutor] has said.”
The Mayor of Trappes, Ali Rabeh, said that “an individual fired shots from his vehicle at several people he encountered” on Friday morning.
The gunman drove through several neighbourhoods in a grey Renault Clio, according to witnesses. Rabeh said he had “fired randomly” with the seeming intent of causing “as many casualties as possible… he wanted to cause carnage”, he said.
The mayor said people had been targeted at a petrol station, a medical centre and a playground in Trappes before the attacker had driven on to nearby La Verrière.
A police union official said the suspect had been detained in La Verrière on the main N10 road that runs through the town.
