Earlier on Friday, a 69-year-old man opened fire on the street in the 10th arrondissement of Paris, he was detained, his motives are unknown. According to AFP, he is French by nationality, known to the police for two attempted murders, in 2016 and 2021. According to the latest data, three people were killed, two of those injured are in serious condition, and two more are in a moderate condition. The Paris prosecutor's office opened an investigation into the murder case.
The French Interior minister said that the gunman who opened fire near a Kurdish cultural center in Paris on Friday was clearly targeting foreigners but there was no evidence that he was seeking out Kurds.
“His motivation was clearly to attack foreigners… It is not certain that the murderer who wanted to kill these people was specifically aiming at Kurds. He was clearly out to get foreigners,” Gerald Darmanin told reporters during a visit to the crime scene.
Citing sources familiar with the matter, French outlet Le Journal du Dimanche reported that a few minutes after his arrest, the gunman said that his actions were guided by "racism."
Several dozen Kurds, however, gathered earlier at the site of the shooting, cordoned off by police in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. They blamed Turkey for the incident. As a representative of the Kurdish community told Sputnik, three Kurds were killed during the shooting. Reinforced police patrols were pulled to the place of the incident.
Later, a spontaneous meeting of the Kurdish community turned into clashes with the police. Law enforcement officers used tear gas to disperse the crowd.
The protesters began rioting, burning garbage cans, throwing stones and bottles at the police. In response, the police repeatedly fired tear gas and then stun grenades. Clashes are intensifying.
At least five police officers were injured in clashes, BFMTV reported, citing a law enforcement source.