French shooting suspect admits targeting Muslims and Africans, prosecutors say

A man charged over a deadly shooting west of Paris has admitted targeting people who appeared to be Muslim, African or North African, French prosecutors said Thursday. One person was killed and seven others, including a child, were injured when a gunman fired from a car in two suburbs last Friday.

The 39-year-old suspect, identified in French media as Kevin T, was charged with murder and attempted murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise, the national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office said. Prosecutor Olivier Christen said the suspect chose Trappes and nearby La Verrière because he regarded them as a “hotbed for Islamists.”

Pengo Bossio Wangi, a 26-year-old French citizen of Congolese heritage, was killed. Three of the wounded remained in hospital, one in critical condition, Christen said, according to the BBC. Al Jazeera reported that most of the victims had foreign heritage and that police arrested the suspect later on the day of the shooting.

The suspect had previously disputed that the attack was racist, Al Jazeera reported. Christen said he denied any “terrorist intent,” described his actions as “legitimate” and said he felt “no regret,” according to the BBC. Al Jazeera reported that he told investigators he had not intended to “kill children,” but acknowledged that he “might have been mistaken due to their size.”

Investigators found weapons or weapon components at the suspect’s home, along with a Quran, a Bible, Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and stickers celebrating the hard-right National Rally party, prosecutors said. Al Jazeera reported that the items included a magazine, two pairs of brass knuckles, a steel bayonet and a silencer. It also reported that Christen described the suspect’s preparation as extensive and said he had obtained components in September to improve the tactical effectiveness of a Sten submachine gun, as well as a police armband and handcuffs.

The suspect told investigators he designed the stickers himself and had them printed more than a year ago, the BBC reported. One slogan read, “long live France, RN, proud to be French.” He said he was neither a member nor a supporter of any political party, Christen said.

President Emmanuel Macron called the shooting a “racist terrorist attack,” and anti-racism demonstrations have been held around France, according to the BBC. The broadcaster reported that Macron accused “certain political movements on the far right,” including the National Rally and those close to it, of allowing a climate of racism “to take root.” National Rally lawmaker Jean-Philippe Tanguy responded that Macron had allowed “hateful ideologies” to flourish.

The exchange comes six months before France’s presidential election, with National Rally leader Marine Le Pen leading opinion polls, the BBC reported.