A deadly attack in Paris has shaken France: an attacker fatally injured three people when shots were fired in a Kurdish cultural center and in shops. Three other people suffered injuries. According to the public prosecutor's office, a suspect was arrested. He too was injured. Accordingly, investigations into intentional killing and serious violence were ongoing.
France's Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne wrote on Twitter of a "disgusting act". She expressed her support for the victims and their families. France's Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin also wrote that all his thoughts are with the victims' families. Darmanin is still expected at the scene of the attack in the afternoon. For victims and witnesses of the bloody attack, the city set up a psychological service at City Hall in the tenth arrondissement.
The attack took place in the tenth arrondissement of Paris. According to district mayor Alexandra Cordebard, the perpetrator shot in a Kurdish community center as well as in a restaurant and a hairdressing salon opposite the center. The Paris police called on Twitter to avoid the area.
According to the public prosecutor's office, the suspected 69-year-old Frenchman had only recently been released from custody under judicial supervision. Last year he attacked a migrant camp - with a saber, as the newspaper "Le Parisien" reported. The man injured several people there. The broadcaster France Info reported, citing police circles, that the man was known for two attempted killings.
Mayor: Act of a right-wing activist
There was initially no information about the background to the fact. Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said racial motives would be investigated. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo wrote on Twitter: "The Kurdish community, and through it all Parisians, have been targeted by these killings, committed by a far-right activist." She demanded: "The Kurds, wherever they live, must be able to live in peace and security. More than ever, Paris stands by them in these dark hours." The broadcaster BFMTV reported that Kurdish places in the capital should now be secured by the police.
Almost ten years ago there was an assassination attempt on three Kurdish activists in the tenth arrondissement of Paris. Their bodies were then discovered in the Kurdistan Information Center.
