French counter-terrorism prosecutors have launched an investigation into a suspected racist and Islamophobic attack near Paris after a gunman opened fire on civilians, killing one person and injuring several others, including a 12-year-old girl who was shot eight times.
The shooting took place this morning in Trappes and neighbouring La Verrière, in the Yvelines department west of Paris, where a 39-year-old man allegedly drove through residential areas firing an automatic weapon at pedestrians.
The mayor of Trappes, Ali Rabeh, described the incident as a terrorist attack with racist and probably Islamophobic motives, revealing that the person killed was of African origin while another seriously injured victim was of North African origin.
France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez was unequivocal in his assessment of the violence. “The investigations are ongoing, but it is clearly a terrorist crime. It is an extremely serious act,” he told reporters.
The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT) has taken charge of the investigation, examining whether the victims were targeted because of their actual or perceived race, ethnicity, nationality or religion.
Gunman targeted several locations
According to French media reports, the attacker opened fire at approximately 10.30am local time, shooting from a vehicle at several locations, including a petrol station, a medical centre and an area close to a children’s playground.
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Witnesses described hearing repeated bursts of gunfire as the vehicle travelled through the streets.
The 12-year-old girl suffered eight gunshot wounds and was taken to hospital in a serious condition. The mayor of La Verrière, Nicolas Dainville, subsequently told AFP that her condition had stabilised.
French authorities initially reported one person dead and four injured, although later reporting by Associated Press indicated that five people had been wounded.
Police arrested the suspected attacker in the neighbouring town of Coignières shortly after the shootings. He was taken into custody.
French newspaper Le Parisien reported that investigators believe the weapon used was a STEN submachine gun dating from the Second World War.
Mayor Rabeh said the gunman appeared to be firing relatively indiscriminately and seemingly intended to carry out a massacre. He described it as a miracle that more people had not been killed.
Suspected Islamophobic motive
The possible racist and Islamophobic nature of the attack has become a central focus of the investigation.
Rabeh said that the ethnic backgrounds of some victims raised serious questions about whether they had been deliberately targeted. He told reporters that the victims could just as easily have been members of his own family.
The mayor also warned about the consequences of inflammatory political rhetoric, calling for condemnation of language that could encourage people to commit such acts.
The counter-terrorism prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into murder and attempted murder linked to terrorism, with the aggravating circumstance that victims may have been targeted because of their racial, ethnic or religious identities.
Investigators are also examining possible terrorist conspiracy offences and illegal possession of a prohibited automatic weapon.
The suspect’s precise ideology and motives have not yet been established publicly.
Suspect known to police
French newspaper Le Parisien has identified the suspect as Kevin T., aged 39, reporting that he was previously known to police for offences involving theft, drugs and drink-driving.
However, he was reportedly not previously known to France’s domestic intelligence service, the DGSI.
French broadcaster BFMTV also reported that investigators discovered gas cylinders apparently arranged as a booby trap inside the suspect’s apartment. The circumstances surrounding that discovery have not yet been fully established.
The shooting comes amid continuing concerns about anti-Muslim hatred and the influence of far-right rhetoric in France.
In May 2025, Hichem Miraoui, a Tunisian man, was shot dead in Puget-sur-Argens in southern France in an attack investigated as possible far-right terrorism. The suspected attacker had reportedly published racist videos expressing hostility towards Muslims and immigrants.
That killing followed the April 2025 murder of Aboubakar Cissé, a young Muslim worshipper stabbed repeatedly inside a mosque in La Grand-Combe.
The latest violence also comes amid heightened political tensions following nationwide protests in France on October 17, during which some far-right commentators blamed immigrants for disorder and vandalism.
