Man arrested after 15-minute shooting in Trappes kills one

Police arrested Kevin T., a 39-year-old man, after he drove through the Paris suburbs of Trappes and La Verriere and fired an automatic weapon. The spree lasted approximately 15 minutes and began at 10:30 a.m. local time on Friday. One person died and five others were injured in the attack.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez stated that investigations are ongoing but that the incident is "clearly a terrorist crime." Prosecutors are currently examining whether the suspect conspired with a terrorist group. A member of the suspect's immediate family has also been taken into custody. Local police officers told French media that they found a World War II-era semiautomatic weapon and tear gas grenades inside the suspect's car.

Local MP Laurent Mazaury reported that the suspect told officers he wanted to "kill foreigners." Mazaury described the suspect as a racist. The dead victim, Pengo Bassio Wangi, was identified as a young Black man. Among the injured is a 12-year-old girl of North African descent who was shot eight times. Her mother said the girl was wearing a headscarf and was rushed to a children's hospital for surgery. Three of the five injured individuals are in critical condition.

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 France's determination to fight racism in all its forms. Trappes mayor Ali Rabeh, who has Moroccan roots, said the gunman fired at random and aimed to cause a "bloodbath." Rabeh described the attack as objectively racist and probably Islamophobic. He stated that the victim's crime was likely being of color.

The shooting occurred while cost-of-living and student protests grip the country. Authorities plan to deploy 70,000 police officers on Saturday for further expected demonstrations. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu called the case "very serious" and said all security and judicial resources were mobilized. Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Rally, condemned the shooting as "barbaric."

Muslim groups accused the populist right of fostering hatred through Islamophobic rhetoric. They pointed to Le Pen's proposal to fine women who wear headscarves in public. Rabeh called politicians who make negative comments about Muslims "criminals." The French Muslim Council blamed promoters of anti-Muslim hate speech, saying they have "blood on their hands."

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