Trappes shooting: Suspect admits deliberately targeting Muslims and Africans
According to the anti-terrorism prosecutor, the 39-year-old Frenchman acknowledges the attack was premeditated. He is under investigation for murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise.
Symbolic image · Photo: ℍenry Salomé / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped and resized)
The suspect in the shooting in Trappes and La Verrière, west of Paris, has acknowledged that the attack was premeditated, according to investigators. National anti-terrorism prosecutor Olivier Christen said the 39-year-old Frenchman deliberately shot at people he believed, based on their appearance, to be Muslim or from North or sub-Saharan Africa. He described Trappes as "a haven for Islamists."
The Oct. 23 attack killed a 26-year-old man and wounded seven people, including an 11-year-old girl. Investigators say the suspect fired an automatic weapon from a car and was arrested less than 20 minutes after the shooting began. At his home, investigators found weapons, weapon parts and a copy of Hitler's "Mein Kampf." He denies terrorist intent, has shown no remorse according to prosecutors, and says he is neither a member nor a supporter of any political party.
Prosecutors have opened a judicial investigation into murder and attempted murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise, with the aggravating circumstance of a racial, ethnic or religious motive. They have requested pretrial detention. President Emmanuel Macron had condemned the shooting as a "racist terrorist attack." The suspect is presumed innocent.