A shooting in Paris on Friday killed three people and injured at least three others in a busy neighborhood ahead of the holiday weekend.
Paris police closed off a street of shops and restaurants in the 10th arrondissement of Paris, near the Gare de l’Est train station. The street was packed with shoppers before Christmas, but police advised shoppers to avoid the area.
“We were walking down the street and we heard gunshots,” Ali Dalek, a witness, told the BBC. “We turned around and we saw people running from left to right, and then five or six minutes later, because we know people who work at the hair salon, we went in and saw that they had arrested a guy, an old, old, tall guy.” .
Officers arrested a 69-year-old suspect with a prior record, including an arrest for attacking immigrants living in tents. The previous attack occurred in December 2021 and it was not clear why he had been released, according to the BBC.
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Police detained the suspect without resistance and reportedly found the weapon used in the attack, but the suspect suffered a facial injury. Three other people have gone to the hospital to be treated, one of them in critical condition.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin speaks to reporters during a visit to Rue d’Enghien after shootings killed and wounded several people in a central Paris district on Friday.
(Reuters/Sarah Meyssonnier)
Alexandra Cordebard, mayor of the 10th arrondissement, said “the true motivation for the shooting remains unclear.” Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said anti-terror prosecutors have been in contact with investigators but have not indicated any sign of a terrorist motive.
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Instead, police have considered a possible racist motive for the shooting, as it occurred near a Kurdish cultural center. In 2013, three female Kurdish activists were shot dead in the same center. A Turkish citizen was accused of the murder, but many suspected the Turkish intelligence service.
Clashes with French police during a demonstration near Rue d’Enghien occurred after shots were fired on Friday, killing and wounding several people in a central Paris district.
(Reuters/Sarah Meyssonnier)
A nearby crowd accused the criminal of acting in the interests of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, chanting “Erdogan, terrorist” and “Turkish state, murderer” as Cordebard spoke.
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The shooting caused a Kurdish community protest near the scene of the shooting, and protesters clashed with police. All three victims killed in the shooting were of Kurdish origin, Sky News reported.
Protesters clash with French police during a demonstration near Rue d’Enghien after shots were fired on Friday, killing and wounding several people in a central Paris district.
(Reuters/Sarah Meyssonnier)
The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, was less cautious in her statements, calling the suspect an “extreme right-wing activist.”
“The Kurds, wherever they reside, must be able to live in peace and security,” Hidalgo said. “More than ever, Paris is by your side in these dark times.”
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Associated Press contributed to this report.
