One person killed in 15-minute Trappes shooting spree

Residents of Trappes and La Verriere, two working-class communities on the northern outskirts of Paris, woke to the sound of gunfire on Friday morning. The attack killed one person and injured five others. Among the wounded is a 12-year-old girl who was seriously hurt. The incident has prompted French authorities to open a terrorism investigation.

The shooting began at approximately 10:30 a.m. local time. The suspect, identified as Kevin T., a 39-year-old man, drove through the neighborhoods and fired an automatic weapon. He targeted a petrol station, a medical center, and a children's playground. The rampage lasted about 15 minutes before police arrested him.

Local MP Laurent Mazaury reported that the suspect told officers he intended to "kill foreigners." Mazaury stated, "I think we are facing a racist person." French media reported that the deceased man, named Pengo Bassio Wangi, was young and Black. The wounded group included a woman wearing a headscarf and the 12-year-old girl, who also wore a headscarf and is of North African descent.

The girl's mother spoke to broadcaster RTL, stating that her daughter was shot eight times. The child was transferred to a children's hospital for surgery. The mother asked, "How could anyone do this to a child?" She emphasized that her daughter was born in Trappes and has the right to build her life in France.

Prosecutors announced that three of the five injured individuals are in critical condition. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez described the incident as "clearly a terrorist crime." Prosecutors are examining whether the suspect conspired with a "terrorist group." A member of the suspect's immediate family has also been taken into custody.

Investigators found an older-style semiautomatic weapon from the World War II era in the suspect's car. Tear gas grenades were also recovered from the vehicle. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu called the case "very serious" and stated that all security and judicial resources were fully mobilized.

President Emmanuel Macron labeled the incident a "racist terrorist attack." He described it as a turning point in the life of the Republic. Trappes mayor Ali Rabeh, who has Moroccan roots, said the gunman fired at random and sought to cause a "bloodbath." Rabeh called the attack "objectively a racist attack, probably Islamophobic."

The attack occurs amid ongoing cost-of-living and student protests in France. Authorities plan to deploy 70,000 police officers on Saturday to manage expected demonstrations. Some far-right voices have blamed Muslim youths for the unrest. Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Rally, condemned the shooting as "barbaric."

Muslim groups accused the populist right of fostering hatred through Islamophobic rhetoric. They pointed to Le Pen's proposal to fine women who wear the headscarf in public. Rabeh said politicians who make negative comments about Muslims are "criminals." The French Muslim Council blamed promoters of anti-Muslim hate speech, saying they have "blood on their hands."

Monitors report growing anti-Muslim hostility in Europe. Last week, the European Parliament passed a resolution by 381 votes to 167, with 15 abstentions, calling for an EU strategy against Islamist entryism. Researcher Farid Hafez of Georgetown University's Bridge Initiative called it a major symbolic victory for anti-Muslim forces. Amnesty International stated in June that Islamophobic violence in the United Kingdom had reached "emergency levels." The EU's Fundamental Rights Agency notes that one in two Muslims in Europe face racial discrimination. In the United States, California's attorney general reported that anti-Muslim hate crimes rose 54 percent in 2025, from 24 to 38.