One person killed in suspected ‘Islamophobic’ shooting near Paris

Antiterrorism prosecutors investigating motive of attack that seriously wounded five, including a 12-year-old girl.A gunman has killed one person ⁠⁠and wounded five others, including a 12-year-old girl, in a possible Islamophobic “terrorist crime” in the Paris suburbs, authorities said.An unidentified 39-year-old male suspect was taken into custody shortly after the attacks in the towns of Trappes and nearby La Verriere outside the capital on Friday.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Why are French protesters chanting ‘Bismillah, c’est les ténèbres’?list 2 of 3France suspends high school classes as protesters clash with policelist 3 of 3Europe is in trouble, and it is blaming Muslimsend of listInterior Minister Laurent Nunez said the suspect fired at a children’s playground, a fuel station and a medical centre, the Reuters news agency reported. Three of the victims, including the 12-year-old girl, suffered life-threatening injuries, he said.Nunez said the attack lasted less than 15 minutes and that the gunman appeared to have used “a military-grade weapon, or at least an automatic weapon”. Prosecutors were treating it as a “terrorist crime” and investigating whether it was racially or religiously motivated, he said.Trappes Mayor Ali Rabeh said the gunman “appeared to be firing at random and seemed intent on carrying out a massacre”.“This was a terrorist attack with racist, likely Islamophobic, overtones,” he said.Rabeh earlier said two of the victims were of African and North African origins.French President Emmanuel Macron said national antiterrorism prosecutors had taken over the case.“Our thoughts go out to the victims, their families, and all the residents of Yvelines. In this terrible ordeal, the Nation stands by their side,” Macron posted on X.Tension ahead of Saturday protestsSeparately, security was tightened ahead of protests that are expected across the country this weekend. Many of the demonstrations have been banned following burning and looting at protests last weekend.