It was around 10:30 a.m. when a man opened fire on Friday October 23, leaving one dead and several seriously injured, including three with life-threatening injuries, in Trappes and La Verrière, two towns in Yvelines. "The individual was arrested and placed in police custody. All the resources of the security forces and the judicial authority are fully mobilized", immediately reacted the Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, on X, speaking of "very serious facts". “Our thoughts are with the victims, their families, as well as all the inhabitants of Yvelines. In this terrible ordeal, the nation stands by their side,” Emmanuel Macron, for his part, reacted on the same social network.
The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office (Pnat) quickly announced that it was taking up this matter, while the Minister of the Interior confirmed that it was a "terrorist crime". Franceinfo looks back at what we know.
A man shoots in bursts and leaves one dead and several seriously injured, the Minister of the Interior announces “a terrorist crime”
A man opened fire Friday morning around 10:30 a.m. in Yvelines, firing in bursts from a car, leaving one dead and several seriously injured in Trappes and La Verrière. The Prime Minister himself confirmed the facts and the results in a message on X.
Arriving at Trappes town hall in the middle of the afternoon, accompanied by Aurore Bergé, minister responsible for the fight against discrimination and MP for Yvelines, the Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuñez, spoke of "a deadly journey". “This is clearly a terrorist crime,” he added.
Among the seriously injured people is a 12-year-old child, Franceinfo learned from a source close to the matter. She was hit by "eight bullet holes", the mayor of La Verrière, Nicolas Dainville, told AFP. “She was transported to Necker hospital in Paris. Her condition has stabilized,” he said at midday on Friday.
According to the mayor of Trappes, Ali Rabeh, the man "obviously fired at random and wanted to cause carnage". “There were numerous shootings across different neighborhoods of the city,” explained the elected official on BFMTV. Several places in this city were targeted by gunfire, including a health center, vehicles and a play area, he said. “It’s a miracle that we don’t have more victims.” A psychological help unit will be set up, the elected official also announced on X.
A suspect known to the police arrested, his apartment trapped
The suspect, aged 39, was arrested in Coignières, another commune in Yvelines. He is known to the police, but not to the intelligence services, Franceinfo learned from a source close to the matter. His motivations are currently unknown. A police source told France Télévisions that he was in possession of a machine gun, but also tear gas canisters and gloves. During the search carried out in his apartment, the police discovered that he was trapped, franceinfo learned from reliable sources. According to the first information communicated, several gas cylinders were found.
Asked about a possible racist motive for the shooter, the mayor of Trappes, Ali Rabeh, declared on BFMTV that he did not want to say "anything definitive and certain", noting that the shooter had "fired relatively randomly". “I observe that these two victims in the town of Trappes present a particular profile in fact,” he nevertheless underlined. “The deceased person is of African origin and the person in absolute emergency is of North African origin.” “It looks like a murderous journey,” simply declared the Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuñez, when asked about the motive.
The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office takes
The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office (Pnat) quickly announced that it would take charge of the acts committed. He opened an investigation for "assassination in connection with a terrorist enterprise, with the circumstance that the facts were committed due to true or supposed membership of a so-called race, ethnic group, nation or a specific religion", "attempted assassinations in relation to a terrorist enterprise", "possession of a category A weapon" and "terrorist criminal association with a view to preparing crimes against people".
“It is clearly a terrorist act,” the Minister of the Interior reacted from Trappes during a press briefing early in the afternoon. “It is an attack with racist connotations, probably Islamophobic,” assured the mayor of the city to journalists after Laurent Nuñez spoke. Ali Rabeh also estimated that speeches stigmatizing “Arab-Muslims” “cause deaths”.
The suspect was taken into custody, the Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office announced in a press release. According to a police source at France Télévisions, he is being questioned at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines police station.
