A gunman opened fire at multiple locations in the Paris suburbs of Trappes and La Verrière on Friday morning, killing one person and wounding five others, including a 12-year-old girl who was shot eight times, according to Reuters and French authorities.
The attacker fired from a vehicle at a gas station, a medical center and an area near a children’s playground, roughly 15 miles southwest of central Paris. Police arrested a 39-year-old suspect identified as Kevin T., whose full surname has not been released. Investigators say they recovered a Sten submachine gun and a tear gas grenade from his car. France’s national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation.
Trappes Mayor Ali Rabeh said the gunman “appeared to be firing at random and seemed intent on carrying out a massacre,” and called it a “miracle” that more people were not killed.
Macron Calls It a Turning Point
President Emmanuel Macron declared the shooting a “terrorist and racist attack,” identifying the man killed as Pengo Bossio Wangi. Five others remain in critical condition, including the wounded girl.
“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,” Macron said.
In a longer statement, Macron said he wanted to “avoid any controversy” and acknowledged that France has previously suffered attacks targeting Christians and Jews because of their faith. He said no victim’s pain should be “ranked above another” and called for national unity against racism, antisemitism and all forms of religious hatred.
Critics have pushed back on Macron’s framing. The attacks he referenced but did not deny include the 2012 Toulouse school shooting by Mohammed Merah, who murdered a rabbi and three children; the 2015 Hypercacher kosher supermarket attack by Amedy Coulibaly, which killed four Jewish hostages; the 2016 murder of 85-year-old priest Jacques Hamel, whose throat was slit inside his church in Normandy; and the 2020 stabbing deaths of three people at a Catholic basilica in Nice. European commentators, including the Visegrad 24 account, argued Macron’s “first time” characterization ignored that record even as his own statement named it.
Paris on Edge Ahead of Weekend
The shooting lands as France braces for another weekend of mass demonstrations following days of rioting and looting that left vehicles burned and businesses damaged. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said about 70,000 security personnel will be deployed nationwide this weekend, and major Paris museums, including the Louvre, are expected to stay closed.
The strain on police resources has already forced the postponement of Sunday’s Paris Saint-Germain match against Lyon, which will now be played Monday.
Despite the unrest, the NFL is proceeding with its first regular-season game in France, with the Pittsburgh Steelers set to face the New Orleans Saints at Stade de France on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. ET. The Steelers already canceled a planned fan event in Paris because of the disorder. The NFL says it has added security measures and is coordinating with French authorities and the U.S. State Department.
President Trump has questioned whether the game should go forward given the violence, and Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said the game would not be played if conditions were unsafe. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, meanwhile, used a Friday appearance in Paris to discuss the league’s international expansion, including potential future games in Tokyo.
