Key takeaways:
- Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said at least one person was killed and four were injured in the shooting west of Paris.
- Trappes Mayor Ali Rabeh said a man fired from a vehicle and that a 12-year-old girl was among the injured.
- A suspect is in custody, and France’s National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office has taken charge of the case.
A gunman fired from a vehicle at people in communities west of Paris on Friday, killing at least one person and injuring four others, French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said. Authorities arrested a suspect, and France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office took over the investigation.
The shooting occurred in Trappes and La Verrière, in the Yvelines department about 20 miles west of Paris, according to authorities cited by NBC News. Trappes Mayor Ali Rabeh said a man opened fire on people he encountered while driving. He told France’s BFM TV that a 12-year-old girl was among those injured.
Lecornu called the events “very serious” and said the suspect had been “apprehended and placed in police custody.” The BBC reported that police were treating the shooting as a terrorist incident. French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said the attacker appeared to have used “an automatic weapon,” according to the BBC.
France’s National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office, known as PNAT, said it had taken charge of the case. The BBC reported that its investigation concerned what appeared to be “murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise,” as well as possession of a Category A weapon and conspiracy with a terrorist group for the purpose of preparing crimes against people.
In a statement to NBC News, the prosecutor’s office said one person had been arrested and charged on four counts, including murder and possession of a firearm. It said the counts carried the “aggravating circumstance that the acts were committed on the basis of actual or supposed membership in a particular race, ethnicity, a purported race, ethnic group, nation, or specific religion.” Rabeh said an investigation was underway to determine the shooter’s motive.
The BBC said reports in French media suggested the number of injured people might be higher than the four confirmed by Lecornu. Its report also said a 12-year-old child might be among them; Rabeh separately identified the injured child as a girl in his comments to BFM TV.
President Emmanuel Macron said he was shocked by the shooting. “Our thoughts go to the victims, their families, and all the residents of Yvelines. During this terrible ordeal, the nation stands with them,” he wrote on X, according to NBC News. He also thanked law enforcement agencies.
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