PARIS: At least three people were killed, and three were injured when a gunman on Friday opened fire at a hairdressing salon and a Kurdish cultural center in central Paris, the capital city of France, prosecutors and witnesses said.
The shots caused panic in rue d’Enghien in the trendy 10th district of Paris, a bustling area of shops and restaurants where a large Kurdish population resides.
Witnesses told AFP that the white gunman, described by police as known for two previous murder attempts, initially targeted the Kurdish cultural center before entering a nearby hairdressing salon where police arrested him.
“We saw an aged white man enter, then start firing in the Kurdish cultural center, then he entered the nearby the hairdresser,” a nearby restaurant worker, Romain, told AFP by telephone.
Resident Emmanuel Boujenan told AFP: “People were shouting to the police, panicking, and pointing to the salon ‘he is there, he is there, go in and kill him.'”
He said he saw two persons on the salon floor with leg wounds.
Kurdish community center in Paris
The Kurdish community center, Centre Ahmet Kaya, is used by a charity that integrates the Kurdish population in the central Paris region.
The shooter was described by police as “Caucasian,” of French nationality, and accused of two previous murder attempts in 2016 and 2021, respectively.
His motives remain unclear; however, his identity and target immediately raised concern that the shooter may be racially motivated.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin had been warning about the danger of far-right violent groups in the country.
The attacker was injured and “has been shifted to hospital,” Alexandra Cordebard, the mayor of the 10th district, said at the scene, where police have cordoned off surrounding roads.
“There are three killed, one person in intensive care who sustained a critical injury, and two persons with critical injuries, and the attacker, who was arrested, has also been injured, notably to the face,” Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau told reporters. – AFP/APP
