A gunman opened fire at multiple locations across the Yvelines department west of Paris on Friday morning, killing one man and wounding five people, including a 12-year-old girl, before being arrested by police. The Élysée described the attack as a “racist terrorist act,” and the National Anti-Terror Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT) has taken charge of the investigation.
How the Attack Unfolded
Calls to emergency services began around 10 a.m., with the first reports of shots fired near Square Van Gogh in Trappes. According to a police source, the assailant then drove a Renault Clio through the area, firing bursts from an automatic weapon from inside the vehicle.
Further shootings were reported near Square Pergaud, at an Esso petrol station along the RN10, close to the Maison de Santé and the Bois de l’Étang pharmacy, and at Trappes railway station. The suspect was detained by the anti-crime brigade (BAC) of Coignières along the RN10, in front of a Kiloutou equipment hire site.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said police and emergency crews had “very probably interrupted an ongoing murderous spree.” The mayor of Trappes, Ali Rabeh, said the gunman “was clearly firing at random and wanted to cause a massacre.”
The Victims
Five people were hit in the shootings, one of them fatally. The deceased is a 26-year-old man from Poissy. The other victims include:
- A 21-year-old man struck by numerous bullets and taken to Percy hospital.
- A 12-year-old girl hit by around ten rounds and rushed to Necker hospital in absolute emergency.
- Two men aged 29 and 48, shot near the Bois de l’Étang pharmacy and transferred to Pompidou and Kremlin-Bicêtre hospitals, one in absolute and one in relative emergency.
Two medical-psychological emergency units were opened on Friday afternoon at the town halls of Trappes and La Verrière for those directly involved and for witnesses.
Anti-Terror Inquiry Opened
The PNAT said it had opened an investigation for “assassination in connection with a terrorist enterprise,” “attempted assassinations,” “possession of weapons” and “criminal terrorist association.” The inquiry has been entrusted to the anti-terror sub-directorate (SDAT), local police and the DGSI domestic intelligence service.
Asked about the racist motive, Nunez said the charges under which the prosecutor opened the case “seem fairly explicit.” He condemned a “terrorist crime” and stressed that investigations were ongoing into an “extremely serious act.”
Suspect’s Home Found Booby-Trapped
According to concordant sources, the suspect’s apartment in Plaisir was rigged with gas cylinders. The building was evacuated and the surrounding neighbourhood sealed off on Friday afternoon, with residents directed to the Pierre de Coubertin sports hall. Police found the suspect in possession of a submachine gun, tear gas canisters and cocaine at the time of his arrest, sources said.
Political Reaction
President Emmanuel Macron expressed his “deep emotion” in a message on X, saying thoughts were with the victims, their families and all residents of the Yvelines. “In this terrible ordeal, the Nation stands by their side,” he wrote, praising the security forces who arrested the perpetrator. Macron later travelled to Trappes, where he was due to meet the mayor, emergency services and local residents.
Rabeh said the attack carried “a racist connotation, probably Islamophobic,” adding that the 12-year-old girl was fighting for her life. “Her crime is probably that she is racialised,” he said, describing the shootings as “probably one of the first attempted mass crimes with an Islamophobic and racist connotation.” He called on politicians and journalists to work for “de-escalation” and “republican concord,” warning that rhetoric blaming France’s problems on Arab-Muslim citizens “produces deaths.”
The French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) expressed “horror and deep indignation after the vile attack,” warning about the consequences of hate speech and scapegoating in public debate. It urged Muslims in France to exercise “extreme vigilance.”
Witnesses Describe the Panic
Amine, 23, from Montigny, was at a petrol station when the shooting began. “I heard a detonation but didn’t immediately realise they were shots. I turned my head and saw that the driver of a car was armed. I saw a panicked woman running across the station,” he told Le Figaro. “I jumped onto the back seat, lay down, locked the doors and called the police. I was afraid he would come to my window — I had no escape route. It’s traumatising.”
Coumba, who has lived in Trappes for ten years in a building overlooking one of the squares where shots were fired, heard two gunshots. “It’s frightening, we have children. It’s horrible — we’re not safe,” she said, describing the area as a quiet neighbourhood without the score-settling seen elsewhere.
