Shooting near Paris: one dead, five wounded, case investigated as a racist terrorist attack

Drive-by shooting in Trappes and La Verrière

On the morning of 23 October 2026, at around 10:30, a man opened fire from the window of a moving car at pedestrians in the towns of Trappes and La Verrière in the Yvelines department, roughly 20–30 kilometres southwest of Paris. According to the authorities, one person was killed and five were wounded, three of them in extremely critical condition. Among the wounded was a 12-year-old girl who sustained eight gunshot wounds; according to La Verrière mayor Nicolas Denvil, she was seriously injured but in stable condition, and later, in his words, her condition improved. Outlets differed in their initial estimates of the number of wounded: Deutsche Welle and AFP reported four victims, while euronews and BBC reported five.

Course of the attack and the arrest

According to BFMTV, citing sources, the shooter began firing at a bus stop on Place Van Gogh in Trappes, then shot near the Louis Pergaud square and at an ESSO petrol station, before heading to La Verrière. Trappes mayor Ali Rabeh said the man was «firing indiscriminately, seeking to stage a bloodbath», and called it a «miracle» that the death toll was not higher. The mayor of La Verrière reported that the shooter got out of the car to fire at two street cleaners working near a school, and also aimed at the 12-year-old girl. According to The National, the attack lasted about 15 minutes; five police officers stopped the car and detained the suspect in Coignières roughly a quarter of an hour after the shooting began, and he made no attempt to shoot at the officers. In his car, police found a Second World War-era Sten submachine gun and tear gas grenades.

Victims and motives

The victim, as several media outlets reported, was a 26-year-old mixed martial arts fighter Pengoo Bossio Wangi, who competed for the French club Atch Academy. According to the mayor of Trappes, the victim was of African origin, while one of the wounded in critical condition was of North African origin. Rabeh described the attack as «objectively racist, probably Islamophobic». The prosecutor's office is investigating whether the victims were targeted on the basis of their «actual or presumed race, ethnicity, nationality or religion». According to Le Monde, the suspect said during questioning that he had wanted to attack people of immigrant background in order to «take revenge» for the looting of shops on 17 October, when violent protests took place in France. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez called the incident «an overtly terrorist crime».

Official reaction

President Emmanuel Macron visited Trappes on Friday evening and called the attack «a racist terrorist act», saying it was a «turning point» because, in his words, for the first time a terrorist attack had been aimed at killing people «because of the colour of their skin or their presumed religion». He later acknowledged on X that the country had already experienced terrorist attacks against Christians and Jews, noting that «none of these victims should be forgotten». Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said that all resources of the security services and the judiciary were fully mobilised. The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office (PNAT) opened a case of «murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise» with the aggravating circumstance of racial or religious motivation, as well as charges of possession of a Category A weapon and participation in a terrorist criminal association.

The suspect and the ongoing investigation

The suspect is 39-year-old Kevin T., born in 1987, a resident of the town of Plaisir. According to media reports, he was known to the police but not to the intelligence services and was not on the «S file» list; the PNAT reported four spent convictions. On Sunday, 25 October, the PNAT announced that his custody had been suspended «for psychiatric reasons»: the suspect was transferred to a psychiatric unit of the Paris police prefecture for observation, which may last up to 48 hours, in order to assess whether his condition is compatible with continued questioning. A toxicological examination detected cannabis and cocaine in his blood; four people from his circle continue to be questioned. In his flat in Plaisir, police found a copy of 'Mein Kampf', as well as a Bible and a Quran; investigators established that he had booby-trapped the home with three gas canisters and wires connected to a timer. The victim's lawyer called the transfer to psychiatric observation a 'very rare' measure and suggested it was being used to portray the suspect as insane. The victim's family is demanding an investigation into possible failures by the authorities and the reconstruction of the suspect's 'path of radicalization'. On Saturday, hundreds of people gathered at the scene of the attack with placards 'Trapp demands truth and justice' and 'Words kill'.

Why it matters

The attack took place against a backdrop of tension in France: a week earlier, mass protests over the cost of living had taken place, accompanied by riots, and the authorities imposed nighttime curfews and increased police presence. The event primarily affects residents of immigrant background in the Paris suburbs — as a local shopkeeper noted, 'he was shooting at Black people, at Arabs'. In practical terms, the investigation will now determine whether the suspect is deemed fit for questioning after a psychiatric evaluation, and will establish whether a racist motive is confirmed as an aggravating circumstance in the case.