A gunman firing from his vehicle launched a 15-minute shooting spree across the Paris suburbs on Friday, October 23, 2026, leaving one person dead and five others injured, including a 12-year-old girl who was shot eight times.
The Elysee Palace and senior French authorities swiftly condemned the rampage as a “racist terrorist attack,” opening a formal anti-terrorism investigation into what officials described as a targeted assault on people of foreign origin.
The violence began on Friday afternoon in Trappes and neighboring La Verrière, working-class communities in the Yvelines department southwest of Paris known for their large immigrant populations. Operating from his car, a grey Renault Clio, the 39-year-old gunman moved between multiple locations, firing indiscriminately at pedestrians near a petrol station, a medical center, and a local children’s playground.
Within 15 minutes of the initial shots, five officers from a local anti-crime brigade intercepted the vehicle along the main road in nearby Coignières. Police arrested the suspect without further bloodshed, recovering a submachine gun and tear-gas grenades from his possession.
Investigators later discovered that the suspect had booby-trapped his residence with gas canisters and electrical wiring attached to a timer. One of his family members was subsequently taken into custody for questioning.
The attack left one victim dead at the scene, identified by authorities as a man of African descent. Among the five wounded, the most critically injured is a 12-year-old girl who sustained eight gunshot wounds and was rushed to intensive care alongside a North African man who also remains in critical condition.
Minister for Gender Equality and Fight Against Discriminations Aurore Bergé confirmed that the child’s injuries were severe, while medical officials noted on Friday evening that the condition of several victims had not yet stabilized.
The French Presidency issued a statement offering national support to the victims and their families while firmly declaring the assault a “racist terrorist attack”. President Emmanuel Macron expressed his “deep sorrow” on social media, writing that the nation stands united with the victims during this terrible ordeal. Macron later traveled directly to the town hall in Trappes to meet with community members.
Trappes Mayor Ali Rabeh stated that the gunman drove through the area wanting to cause a bloodbath and called the assault “objectively a racist, probably Islamophobic attack,” describing it as one of the first attempted mass killings in the country motivated by such hatred.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez commended the five responding officers for their swift action and confirmed from Yvelines that anti-terrorism prosecutors had taken charge of the case.
The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT) announced a criminal investigation into murder and attempted murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise, aggravated by the target’s actual or perceived race, ethnicity, nationality, or religion.
Security forces remain deployed across the Yvelines region as forensic units continue examining crime scenes in Trappes and analyzing the suspect’s background and potential network connections.
