Milan, October 23 (askanews) – A man opened fire from his car on the outskirts of Paris, killing one person and wounding five others. The incident occurred in Trappes and nearby La Verrière, where the attacker fired several shots at passersby before being arrested. Among the injured was a 12-year-old girl, struck by eight bullets and hospitalized in serious but stable condition. The prosecutor's office has opened a terrorism investigation.
A possible racist motive is also being investigated: at least two of the victims are of foreign origin. French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez arrived on the scene. "We came here to demonstrate the government's sympathy in the face of this tragedy, but I believe also that of the entire nation. The prosecutor described it as a terrorist crime.
The motive has yet to be determined, but it could be racist. Investigations are ongoing." Even more forceful were the words of the mayor of Trappes, Ali Rabeh, who denounced the climate of hatred and the responsibility of political speeches against communities of Arab and Muslim origin. "What we witnessed today was a racist, probably Islamophobic, attack.
The people targeted could have been my mother, my brothers, my sisters-in-law. We must recognize that discourses that ideologically arm those capable of taking action are criminal and must be condemned.” President Emmanuel Macron expressed the nation’s solidarity with the victims, while authorities are trying to reconstruct the attacker’s route and the reasons for the shooting. Locals are in shock: “I arrived immediately as soon as I heard what had happened, because I was afraid for my family, my friends, my neighbors. My first reaction was to come here to make sure the people I love were safe,” said Adel Rachedi, a resident of Trappes.
Askanews