Frenchman suspected of shooting three people in Paris has confessed to having a “pathological” hatred of foreigners, says French prosecutor. The man also injured three others on Friday at a Kurdish cultural center. He was transferred to a police mental institution on Saturday.
The suspect initially said he wanted to kill people in the northern Paris suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis, where many immigrants live. But since there weren’t enough people on the street there, he decided to go to a neighborhood in the capital where many Kurds live.
The man said he was depressed and suicidal. According to the indictment, he planned to kill himself after the attack. His hatred of foreigners is said to have been caused by a burglary at his home in 2016. He was known to the police. French media reported that he attacked a migrant camp with a sword last year.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin had previously said the perpetrator “clearly wanted to attack foreigners” and President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that the Kurdish community was the target of the horrific attack. Mayor Anne Hidalgo announced via Twitter that the man is a far-right activist.
The Kurdish community was outraged by the attack and felt that the French security services had done too little to prevent it. Clashes erupted between protesters and police on Friday and Saturday. 31 officers and one activist were injured, eleven people were arrested.
