French Prosecutors Charge Suspect After Suburban Spree
Charges were filed against Kevin T. following a shooting in Trappes that left one dead and five wounded.
By Isabella Kaur ·
Kevin T., 39, was charged with terrorism offenses on Friday after a shooting spree across Trappes and La Verriere killed one person and wounded five. The attack began at about 10:30am local time and lasted roughly 15 minutes before police detained the suspect.
The gunman fired an automatic weapon at a petrol station, a medical centre, and a children's playground in the northern Paris suburbs. One victim, Pengo Bassio Wangi, died. Three of the five injured people are in critical condition, prosecutors said.
A 12-year-old girl was among the wounded. Her mother told broadcaster RTL that her daughter, who is of North African descent, was shot eight times and transferred to a children's hospital for surgery. French media reported the dead man was young and Black, and that the wounded included a woman wearing a headscarf.
Local MP Laurent Mazaury said the suspect told officers he wanted to "kill foreigners". "I think we are facing a racist person," Mazaury said. Trappes mayor Ali Rabeh called it "objectively a racist attack, probably Islamophobic", and said the gunman was firing at random to cause a "bloodbath".
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said it was "clearly a terrorist crime" while investigations continue. Prosecutors are examining whether the suspect conspired with a "terrorist group", and a member of his immediate family has been taken into custody. A local police chief said investigators recovered a World War II-era semiautomatic weapon and tear gas grenades from the suspect's car.
President Emmanuel Macron called the incident a "racist terrorist attack" and a "turning point in the life of our Republic and our nation". Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu described the case as "very serious" and said security and judicial resources were mobilised.
Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Rally, condemned the shooting as "barbaric". Muslim groups pointed to her campaign proposal to fine women wearing the headscarf in public. Rabeh said politicians making negative comments about Muslims are "criminals", while the French Muslim Council said those promoting anti-Muslim hate speech have "blood on their hands".
The attack occurred amid cost-of-living and student protests across France. Authorities plan to deploy 70,000 police officers on Saturday as further demonstrations are expected.
In June, Amnesty International reported that Islamophobic violence in the United Kingdom had reached "emergency levels". The EU's Fundamental Rights Agency reports that one in two Muslims in Europe face racial discrimination. California's attorney general reported anti-Muslim hate crimes rose 54 percent in 2025, from 24 to 38.
Source: Al Jazeera
