French prosecutors open hate crime probe after deadly drive-by shooting

PARIS — France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor is investigating a shooting near Paris which killed at least one person Friday morning as a possible act of hate-motivated terror. “The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office has taken up this case and opened an investigation,” it said in a statement, adding that the suspect has been placed in custody. The office is investigating charges including murder and attempted murder “in connection with a terrorist enterprise, where the acts were committed on the basis of actual or perceived membership of a specific race, ethnicity, nation or religion.” Earlier in the day, French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced on X that at least one person had been killed and four others injured in a shooting in Trappes, a suburb west of Paris with a lower socioeconomic status and a large Muslim community. A 12-year-old was among those injured, the mayor of nearby town La Verrière told reporters. “The main focus will obviously be on identifying the perpetrator’s motives — what drove him to attempt to carry out a massacre … to target our communities,” Trappes Mayor Ali Rabeh said on French broadcaster BFM. “Our thoughts are with the victims, their families, and all the residents of Yvelines. During this terrible ordeal, the nation stands with them,” President Emmanuel Macron said on social media. Marine Le Pen, the front-running far-right candidate for next year’s presidential election slammed the killing as “a barbaric act whose motives must be determined, and of which those responsible must be severely punished.” “Racism kills,” Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leading left-wing candidate for next year’s election. “In the face of this heinous crime, all human beings are reminded that they are alike as they see themselves united in horror and outrage.” Center-right candidate Edouard Philippe said “terrorism must be fought relentlessly, with absolute determination” and that “the investigation will have to determine the motives of the perpetrator of this despicable act.” This is a developing story.