Five Wounded as Gunman Kills One in Paris Suburb Attack

French authorities declared the shooting a terrorist crime on Friday after a gunman killed one person and wounded five others in the Paris suburbs. The attack, which lasted approximately 15 minutes, targeted civilian locations in the working-class communities of Trappes and La Verriere. Officials identified the suspect as 39-year-old Kevin T., who was arrested by police shortly after the incident.

The violence began at 10:30 a.m. local time. The shooter drove through the area and used an automatic weapon to fire at a petrol station, a medical center, and a children's playground. Among the injured is a 12-year-old girl who was shot eight times and transported to a children's hospital for surgery. Prosecutors stated that three of the five wounded are currently in critical condition.

Local MP Laurent Mazaury reported that the suspect told officers his intention was to "kill foreigners." Mazaury described the attacker as a racist. The deceased victim was named Pengo Bassio Wangi, a young Black man. French media noted that the wounded included a woman wearing a headscarf and the young girl, who was also wearing a headscarf and is of North African descent.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez confirmed that investigators were examining whether the suspect conspired with a terrorist group. A member of the suspect's immediate family circle has been taken into custody. Police found an older-style semiautomatic weapon from the World War II era in the suspect's car, along with tear gas grenades. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu called the case "very serious" and stated that all security and judicial resources were fully mobilized.

President Emmanuel Macron labeled the incident a "racist terrorist attack" and a "turning point in the life of our Republic and our nation." He affirmed that France remains determined to fight racism in all its forms. Ali Rabeh, the mayor of Trappes, said the gunman was firing at random and sought to cause a "bloodbath." Rabeh, who has Moroccan roots, called the event "objectively a racist attack, probably Islamophobic" and noted that the victims could easily have been his own relatives.

The girl's mother told broadcaster RTL that she was asking how anyone could do this to a child. She questioned whether her daughter was targeted because of her headscarf and emphasized that the girl was born in Trappes and has the right to build her life in France. Rabeh added that the girl's crime was probably being of color.

The attack occurs as cost-of-living and student protests grip the country. Authorities plan to deploy 70,000 police officers on Saturday, when more demonstrations are expected. Some far-right voices have blamed Muslim youths for the unrest. Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally, condemned the shooting as "barbaric." Muslim groups accused the populist right of fostering hatred through Islamophobic rhetoric, pointing to Le Pen's proposal to fine women who wear the headscarf in public.

Monitors indicate that anti-Muslim hostility is growing. Last week, the European Parliament passed a resolution by 381 votes to 167, with 15 abstentions, calling for an EU strategy against Islamist entryism and the Muslim Brotherhood network. Researcher Farid Hafez of Georgetown University's Bridge Initiative called this a major symbolic victory for anti-Muslim forces. Amnesty International reported in June that Islamophobic violence in the United Kingdom had reached "emergency levels," and the EU's Fundamental Rights Agency stated that one in two Muslims in Europe face racial discrimination. In the United States, California's attorney general reported that anti-Muslim hate crimes rose 54 percent in 2025, from 24 to 38.

The French Muslim Council blamed promoters of anti-Muslim hate speech, stating they have "blood on their hands." Rabeh said politicians who make negative comments about Muslims are "criminals." The investigation continues as France seeks to address the growing tension between security measures and community relations.