A 69-year-old man opened fire on a Kurdish cultural center and killed three people on Friday. He said he had a “pathological hatred” for “non-European foreigners” on Sunday.
The 69-year-old is due to appear in court on Monday. He spent Sunday in a mental institution and was remanded in police custody.
Beccuau said in a statement the suspect was “depressed” and “suicidal” and wanted to “kill foreigners”.
The man told prosecutors that a break-in at his home in 2016 was a turning point that unleashed in him a “hate for foreigners that has become completely pathological”. He said his hatred of him was aimed at “non-European foreigners”.
The xenophobic attack on a Kurdish cultural center and a nearby hair salon sparked panic in the city’s bustling 10th district, home to many shops and restaurants and a large Kurdish population.
Three other people were injured in the attack, but none of them are life threatening and one has already been released from hospital. The attacker was disarmed and immobilized by one of the victims in the hair salon until the police arrived.
The suspect said he initially wanted to kill people in the northern Paris suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis, which has a large immigrant population, but changed his mind and went to the Kurdish cultural center, which is near his parents’ home.
“He’s crazy,” says the suspect’s father
Identified as William M. by French media, the suspect is a gun enthusiast, has a history of firearm crimes and was released on bail earlier this month.
A retired train driver, he was previously convicted of gun violence in 2016 by a Seine-Saint-Denis court, but has appealed. A year later, he was convicted of illegal possession of a firearm.
Last year, he was also accused of racist violence after he allegedly stabbed migrants and slashed open their tents with a sword in a park east of Paris.
The prosecutor said no connection to an extremist ideology was found after searches of his parents’ home and appraisal of computers and smartphones.
The suspect said he bought his gun four years ago from a member of a shooting club, hid it in his parents’ house and had never used it before.
“He’s crazy, he’s crazy,” his father told AFP news agency, describing him as quiet and reserved. He added that his son said nothing as he left the house on Friday.
Kurdish community protests
Members of the Kurdish community have expressed anger at the French security services, saying they did too little to prevent the attack.
On Saturday, there was a clash between protesters and police in central Paris after a memorial service for the dead.
The French capital’s police chief, Laurent Nunez, told the BFM television channel on Saturday that 31 police officers and a protester were injured during the riots, while 11 people were arrested, “mainly for damages”.
Hundreds of Kurds in Syria also demonstrated on Sunday in solidarity with the victims.
Often described as the most numerous stateless people in the world, the Kurds are a Muslim ethnic group spread across Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Iran. Of the six victims of the attack, five are Turkish and one French.
The Turkish army has been fighting Kurdish militants affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, known by its acronym PKK, which is banned in southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq, for many years. The Turkish military has also recently launched a series of air and artillery strikes against the Kurds in northern Syria.
Turkey, the United States and the European Union consider the PKK a terrorist group, but Turkey accuses some European countries of leniency towards suspected members of the group. This frustration was the main reason behind Turkey’s delay in allowing Sweden and Finland to join NATO.
bl (AFP, AP)
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Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
