Deadly shooting west of Paris ‘clearly terrorist’ attack, interior minister says

One person was killed and four others were wounded, including a 12-year-old girl, when shots were fired from a car in two suburbs west of Paris on Friday. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said the shooting was “clearly a terrorist crime” and “a racist, probably Islamophobic attack”.

Issued on: 23/10/2026 - 14:55Modified: 23/10/2026 - 17:01

The shootings took place in Trappes and La Verrière, two suburbs in the Yvelines department west of Paris.

The attacker fired at five people in different locations from a vehicle, using “what appears to have been a military-grade weapon, or at least an automatic weapon”, Nuñez said.

The suspect, a 39-year-old man, was arrested in nearby Coignières and placed in police custody. He was not known to the intelligence services. 

Police searching his home later found gas cylinders that had been rigged inside the flat, news channel BFMTV reported, citing several sources.

Several locations in Trappes were targeted, including a petrol station, a health centre and a playground, Mayor Ali Rabeh told BFMTV. The man killed was 26 and of African origin, while another of North African origin was critically wounded.

“The gunman was clearly shooting at random and wanted to cause carnage,” Rabeh said. “It is a miracle that there were not more victims.”

A 12-year-old girl was “seriously wounded” after being shot eight times, but is in stable condition, the mayor of La Verrière, Nicolas Dainville, told the French news agency AFP. Media reports said the other wounded victims were three men aged 20, 29 and 47.

Prosecutors have urged caution over the casualty figures and will release confirmed details of the victims later, newspaper Le Parisien reported.

Possible racial motive

The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office has taken charge of the case.

Nuñez said that the involvement of anti-terror prosecutors was a strong indication of motive. 

These investigators deal with murder and attempted murder linked to terrorism, including cases where acts were committed because of a victim’s actual or perceived race, ethnicity, nationality or religion.

Rabeh said the attacker appeared to have fired relatively randomly but noted the backgrounds of the man killed and one of those wounded. He said he did not want to reach a definitive conclusion about the motive.

“The anti-terrorism prosecutor taking up the case ... suggests this was a terrorist attack with racist overtones, judging by the reasons it has given,” Rabeh told public broadcaster FranceInfo.

The shooting came as France prepared for protests on Saturday over the high cost of living, with security stepped up to prevent a repeat of last week’s violent unrest.

“Our thoughts are with the victims, their families and all the residents of Yvelines,” President Emmanuel Macron wrote on social media platform X, also thanking police for the arrest.

(with newswires)

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