Shots from car: Minister speaks of “terrorist act” in France

Trappes. After deadly shootings in the Paris region, France's Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez described the incident as a "terrorist act." “The investigation is still ongoing, but it is clearly a terrorist crime,” Nuñez told journalists in Trappes. In the morning, a man shot from a car in communities near Paris. One person was killed and four others were injured, some of them very seriously, including a twelve-year-old child. The man was arrested a short time later.

The motives still need to be conclusively clarified, said the Interior Minister. Citing the responsible public prosecutor, he stated that the background could be racist. There was initially no further information about possible motives.

Nuñez previously stated that an automatic weapon was used in the attack. As the police announced, the shots were fired at around 10:30 a.m. in the Yvelines department, which is in the western part of the greater Paris region. First there were shots in the community of Trappes, then the man reportedly drove on to the neighboring small community of La Verrière. According to Nuñez, the suspect fired shots from the car in three different locations.