Trappes attack: the weapon was purchased “clandestinely”, according to the anti-terrorism prosecutor

The author of the racist terrorist attack in Yvelines on October 23 had purchased his firearm “clandestinely,” the anti-terrorism prosecutor said on RTL on Tuesday, stressing that the investigation will have to determine how he was able to acquire it. Kévin T. “did not legally possess a firearm,” explained Olivier Christen. The weapon “was purchased clandestinely (...). The investigations will have to focus on how he was able to acquire this “category A” weapon, which includes automatic weapons firing in bursts, as well as “weapon elements, that is to say devices which make it more effective”, he added.

Mediapart revealed on Monday that Kévin T. had been training to shoot a shotgun on a vacant lot in Saint-Cyr-l'École (Yvelines) for years, broadcasting images shot in the summer of 2015. When asked if the authorities had missed something and if the attack could thus have been avoided, Olivier Christen replied: “In this case, I don't think so. I have no evidence that allows us to think that.” “The mere fact that someone is a member of a sports club or participates in trap shooting cannot in itself be enough to potentially identify a target. There are many people who participate in these activities in a completely peaceful way,” he added.

Four procedures in seven years for the “violent radical ultra-left”

On October 23, Kévin T., at the wheel of his car, killed a 26-year-old Frenchman of African origin and injured seven other people, four of them seriously, the majority of African and North African origin, in Trappes and La Verrière in Yvelines. The Pnat (national anti-terrorism prosecution) also counts 22 victims who were not physically harmed, but whose “vehicle was hit by bullets” or who “were targeted without being harmed, which obviously creates a psychological disorder”.

Since its establishment in July 2019, the Pnat has opened 23 procedures concerning the “violent radical ultra-right”, indicated Olivier Christen, speaking of a number “that has been growing for several years”. “We generally had one or two open procedures per year (...). We had 6 in 2025, 6 for now in 2026,” he explained. He reported four procedures opened in seven years for “the violent radical ultra-left”, and “480 in jihadism”. “The main threat weighing today remains the jihadist threat,” underlined Olivier Christen.

“The threat is very present, it is diversifying”

Asked about a risk linked to the approach of the presidential election, he indicated that “there is no specific targeting of the elections today.” Terrorists, “whatever the ideological segment”, are “opportunists” and will most often “take action because the situation, at a given moment, allows them to do so”: “this is why we must always be vigilant when there are gatherings, particularly sports gatherings”.

“Today, there is obviously a climate of discussion which creates tension (...). This can, obviously, create a general situation which can lead certain people to say that it is the right time to take action,” explained Olivier Christen. “We are always vigilant. It is our duty,” he said. “This year we are going to have a number of procedures opened in terrorist matters which will be one of the highest in the 5-6 years which have just passed,” he noted. “The threat is very present, it is diversifying, it is perhaps more segmented than it has been,” he said.