Macron says 'racist terrorist attack’ in Trappes marks turning point for France

French President Emmanuel Macron described Friday’s drive-by shooting in the western suburb of Trappes “as a terrorist and racist attack”, saying it would mark a turning point for France. One person was killed and at least four people, including a 12-year-old girl, were wounded in the shooting, apparently at random. Two of the victims have immigrant backgrounds.

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A gunman firing from his car killed one person and wounded five – including a 12-year-old girl – in the Paris suburb of Trappes on Friday morning.

Speaking from the city in the evening, Macron told reporters the victims had been targeted solely due to their religion and the color of their skin.

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“What happened today marks a turning point for the Republic and our country. What happened today was a terrorist and racist attack,” he said.

Trappes mayor Ali Rabeh said the man was “firing at random, wanting to cause a bloodbath” as he drove through Trappes and neighbouring La Verriere.

Most of the victims were from foreign backgrounds and prosecutors are investigating whether the acts targeted the “real or supposed race, ethnicity, nationality or religion” of the victims.

The 12-year-old girl shot eight times was “seriously wounded” but in a stable condition, the mayor of La Verriere, Nicolas Dainville, told AFP.

Police arrested the alleged shooter – a 39-year-old man, according to a source familiar with the case – in nearby Coignieres.

Officers found him in possession of a submachine gun and tear-gas grenades, according to a police source.

He had also booby-trapped his flat with three gas canisters and electric wires “connected to a timer”, according to anti-terrorism prosecutors.

Prosecutors said they had opened an investigation for “murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise”.

Bursts of gunfire

Rabeh said the man was firing sporadically from his car and that the person killed was “of African origin”.

One of the wounded, “in critical condition, is of north African origin”, he added.

It was “objectively a racist, probably Islamophobic attack,” the mayor said, calling for national unity as the toll rose from an earlier count of four wounded.

Dainville said that two of the wounded in his town – cleaners attending to a school Friday morning when the shooter got out of his car to open fire – were of African origin.

Laurent Nunez, France’s interior minister, travelled to the two affected towns. He called the shooting “clearly a terrorist crime”.

A police source told AFP that the man had fired in bursts from his vehicle around 10:30am (0830 GMT).

Adel, a resident of Trappes, about 20 kilometres west of Paris, said his “heart was broken” as he learned the victims might have been targeted for their race.

“I’m north African and it’s frightening for everyone who has the same background,” the 50-year-old told AFP.

Samy, another resident, told AFP he had seen a body on the ground from his window.

His mother, he said, saw a grey Renault Clio car speeding by and heard “loud bangs”.

‘Terrible ordeal’

Writing on X, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said the case was “very serious” and that “all resources of the security forces and the judiciary are fully mobilised”.

Macron earlier in the day said “the nation is standing with” the victims of this “terrible ordeal”.

The shooting came with France on edge following last weekend’s riots on the sidelines of mass protests over the cost of living, some of the worst street violence in recent years.

Read moreFrench student groups call for protests to continue after meeting with Macron

More protests are expected this weekend, but police will be out in force after a week of overnight curfews put in place in cities throughout the country.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, Reuters)