The track of the racist attack is confirmed in the deadly attack which took place on Friday in the capital. The 69-year-old man, suspected of killing three people on Friday near a Kurdish cultural center in Paris, told a police officer during his arrest that he acted because he was “racist”we learned on Saturday from a source familiar with the matter.
The suspect, who was subdued at a nearby hair salon before police intervened, was arrested with ” briefcase “ container “two or three loaded magazines, a box of 45 caliber cartridges with at least 25 cartridges inside”said this source, confirming information from the “JDD”.
What we know about the suspect of the shooting rue d’Enghien in Paris, already known for attempted murders
Investigators are continuing their investigations on Saturday to determine the reasons which led this man, already prosecuted for a racist attack, to open fire.
Shortly before noon Friday, rue d’Enghien, in the tenth arrondissement of the capital, the suspect, a retired train driver of French nationality, used his weapon several times.
According to Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, who went there in the afternoon, two people were killed in front of the Kurdish cultural center Ahmet-Kaya and the third in a nearby restaurant.
No details have leaked on the profile of the victims, who were not “known to the French services”according to the minister.
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Released after remand
The man “was arrested immediately after the incident and placed in police custody”, said Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau. An investigation was opened for assassination, attempted assassination, intentional violence with weapons and violation of the legislation on weapons.
The investigations were entrusted to the judicial police.
The alleged shooter, slightly injured in the face during his arrest, is known to justice.
He was sentenced last June to twelve months in prison for violence with weapons committed in 2016, a sentence which he appealed.
This man was also indicted in December 2021 for violence with weapons, with premeditation and of a racist nature, and damage for acts committed on December 8, 2021. In this second case, he is suspected of having injured the bladed weapon of migrants from a camp in the 12th arrondissement and to have slashed their tents, a police source reported at the time.
After a year in pre-trial detention, he was released on December 12, as required by law, and placed under judicial supervision, said the prosecutor.
Not listed as someone from the ultra-right
In 2017, the man was given a six-month suspended prison sentence for prohibited possession of weapons.
On the other hand, he is unknown to the files of territorial intelligence and the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI) and “wasn’t listed as someone from the ultra-right”according to Gérald Darmanin.
According to the first elements of the investigation, the motive of racism is one of the avenues explored but must be confirmed in particular by the statements of the suspect during his police custody.
The track of a terrorist attack has been ruled out at this stage of the investigations, according to the prosecutor.
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” He is crazy “
The morning of the facts, “He didn’t say anything when he left (…) He’s crazy. He is crazy “the father of the 90-year-old suspect told AFP, describing him as “silent” and “withdrawn”.
He has “wanted to attack strangers” and “obviously acted alone”estimated Mr. Darmanin, specifying that he frequented a shooting range.
“It is not certain that the killer who wanted to assassinate these people (…) did it specifically for the Kurds”he pointed out, while rumors of an attack ” Politics “ were relayed by the Kurdish community.
The “racist motives of the facts” will “Obviously be part of the investigations, added Laure Beccuau during a press briefing. “There is nothing at this stage to accredit any affiliation of this man to an extremist ideological movement”she said at the end of the day in her press release.
The emotion won over the Kurdish community very present in this district, which evoked an act “terrorist” and implicated Turkey. Violent incidents broke out with the police, and one person was arrested, a police source told AFP.
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The prefect of police Laurent Nuñez must receive Saturday morning leaders of the Kurdish community, who have also announced a demonstration at midday in Paris.
