Trappes Mayor Calls Kevin T.'s Attack Racist After One Killed

Kevin T. wanted to kill foreigners, according to statements made to police after his arrest. The 39-year-old suspect drove through the northern French suburbs of Trappes and La Verriere on Friday morning, firing an automatic weapon at sites that serve large immigrant communities. One person died in the 15 minute rampage.

The shooting started at 10:30 a.m. local time. T. targeted a petrol station, a medical center, and a children's playground. He was arrested shortly after the attack. Among the five people injured is a 12-year-old girl who is in serious condition. Prosecutors said three of the five victims are in critical condition.

Pengo Bassio Wangi, a young Black man, was the person killed. The wounded group included a woman wearing a headscarf and the girl, who also wore a headscarf. The girl's mother said her daughter, who is of North African descent, was shot eight times. Medics moved the child to a pediatric hospital for surgery.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez described the incident as clearly a terrorist crime. Prosecutors are investigating whether T. conspired with a terrorist group. A member of his immediate family circle was also taken into custody. Investigators found a World War II era semiautomatic weapon and tear gas grenades in the suspect's car.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu called the case very serious and said all security and judicial resources were mobilized. President Emmanuel Macron labeled the incident a racist terrorist attack. He called it a turning point in the life of the Republic. Trappes mayor Ali Rabeh, who has Moroccan roots, said the gunman wanted to cause a bloodbath.

Rabeh called the attack objectively racist and probably Islamophobic. He stated that the victims could have been his own relatives. Regarding the wounded girl, he said her crime was probably being of color. The girl's mother asked whether her daughter was targeted because of her headscarf. She noted that the girl was born in Trappes and has the right to build her life in France.

The attack occurred while cost-of-living and student protests grip the country. Authorities plan to deploy 70,000 police officers on Saturday for expected demonstrations. Far-right leader Marine Le Pen condemned the shooting as barbaric. Muslim groups accused the right of fostering hatred through rhetoric. Le Pen has proposed fining women who wear headscarves in public.

Rabeh said politicians who make negative comments about Muslims are criminals. The French Muslim Council said promoters of anti-Muslim hate speech have blood on their hands. Monitors report growing anti-Muslim hostility. The European Parliament passed a resolution against Islamist entryism last week. Amnesty International said Islamophobic violence in the United Kingdom reached emergency levels in June. California's attorney general reported a 54 percent rise in anti-Muslim hate crimes in the United States in 2025.