Macron calls Paris-suburb shooting a 'racist terrorist attack' as one dies and five are wounded

One person was killed and five others were wounded on Friday morning, October 23, when a gunman opened fire from a car in Trappes and neighbouring La Verrière, two towns in the Yvelines department west of Paris, according to French authorities and reporting on the attack.

What happened on Friday morning

The shooting unfolded over about 15 minutes, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said, with the gunman firing what he described as a weapon of war, or in any case an automatic weapon, from a vehicle. Reporting on the attack said the gunman fired at a petrol station, a medical centre and a children's playground in Trappes before continuing to La Verrière.

Three of the five wounded, among them a 12-year-old girl, were reported to be in serious condition. Police arrested a 39-year-old suspect, identified by prosecutors only as Kevin T., in the nearby town of Coignières shortly after the shooting began.

Macron's visit and the terrorism investigation

President Emmanuel Macron visited Trappes on Friday evening and described the shooting as a "racist terrorist attack" and a turning point for the country. "What happened today is, I am telling you, a turning point, because it is the first time we have had a terrorist act that was planned to kill our compatriots, our children, based on the colour of their skin or their religion," he told reporters, according to reporting on his remarks.

France's National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office, known as PNAT, has opened an investigation into murder and attempted murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise, with investigators examining whether the victims were targeted because of their actual or perceived race, ethnicity, nationality or religion. The exact motive has not been established, and no connection to a political organisation had been established as of October 24, according to reporting on the investigation.

Trappes Mayor Ali Rabeh called the shooting "racist" and "Islamophobic," saying the people targeted could just as easily have been members of his own family.

Why it matters in Canada

The attack comes at a moment of particular tension in France, six days after nationwide demonstrations on October 17 that were followed in some cities by looting and vandalism, which some far-right politicians blamed on immigration. For Canadians, the case is a stark example of how quickly heated public debate over immigration and identity can turn violent — and of why investigators, not politicians, determine whether an attack counts as terrorism.