Shooting near Paris investigated as an Islamophobic terror attack

French authorities are investigating Friday's shooting in Trappes and La Verrière as a terrorist attack: one person was killed and four others were wounded. Mayor Rabeh said the attack had a racist, likely Islamophobic motive.

Rabeh made the statement on Friday afternoon after meeting French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez. He condemned the shooting as an "attack with a racist motive, probably an Islamophobic one," and rejected claims that "Arabs and Muslims are responsible for all the problems of our society." In his words, such statements "cost human lives." "We must all understand that remarks ideologically inciting those capable of taking action are criminal, and they must be judged as such," the French broadcaster quotes the mayor as saying.

Nuñez condemned a "terrorist act." According to the broadcaster, three of the four wounded are in serious, life-threatening condition. The minister stressed that the authorities are investigating the incident as a terrorist attack.

The shooting took place on Friday at around 10:30 a.m.: the suspect, who was in a car, began firing on a public road in Trappes and later in La Verrière. Police detained him in Coignières, French media reported.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz