The key facts
- Shooting from a car at around 10:30 in Trappes and La Verrière (Yvelines department): one dead, four wounded, including a 12-year-old girl among the victims
- 39-year-old suspect, known to police, detained in Coignières; PNAT is investigating the case as terrorism with a possible racist motive
- Mayor of Trappes Ali Rabeh: the shooter 'fired at random, seeking to create a massacre'; motive not yet established
Course of events
On Friday morning, at around 10:30, a man opened fire from a car on the streets of Trappes and neighboring La Verrière in the Yvelines department, roughly 20–30 kilometers southwest of Paris. According to police, he fired bursts from the car at several locations, including a medical center, a gas station and a playground, and also hit several cars. According to local media, a 'semi-automatic weapon of an old model' was used; Le Parisien reports that the weapon dates from World War II. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez called what happened a 'deadly hunt' and said that, according to preliminary data, a weapon of a military or automatic type was used.
Victims
One person was killed and four were wounded, police sources said; local authorities warned that the number of victims could change. The mayor of La Verrière, Nicolas Denvil, told AFP that a 12-year-old girl was seriously wounded — by eight bullets — but her condition is stable. The mayor of Trappes, Ali Rabeh, told BFMTV that the person killed was of African origin, and one of the wounded in critical condition was of North African origin; he suggested this could point to a motive but stressed he did not want to draw 'definitive' conclusions. 'It is a miracle that there were not more victims,' Rabeh said.
Detention and investigation
The suspect was quickly detained in neighboring Coignières and placed in police custody. According to a source close to the investigation, he is a 39-year-old man known to police but not to intelligence services. The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office (PNAT) opened a case on charges of 'murder and attempted murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise' with the aggravating circumstance of an alleged motive related to the victims' race, ethnicity, nationality or religion, as well as 'possession of a Category A weapon' and 'participation in a terrorist criminal association.' The motive for the attack remains undetermined; there was no immediate evidence of any link to the protests or to Islamist terrorism.
Authorities' response
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu called what happened 'a very serious event' and said that all security forces and judicial authorities were fully mobilized. President Emmanuel Macron expressed condolences, saying that 'the nation stands alongside' the victims of this 'ordeal.' The mayor of Trappes said that psychological support for the victims would be organized in the town.
Context
The shooting occurred as France prepared for new protests against the cost of living on Saturday: authorities announced the deployment of 70,000 security personnel, and major museums are closing. Nuñez said the police were ready to be 'extremely firm.' AFP and DW note that Trappes previously experienced tension after threats against a local teacher who wrote that the state had insufficiently protected Samuel Paty, who was beheaded by a radical Islamist in 2020. No direct connection between the shooting and the protests or Islamist terrorism has been established at this time.
