Paris shooter wanted to kill migrants
PARIS (AP) — The man suspected of fatally shooting three Kurds in Paris ahead of Christmas weekend told investigators that he had set out that morning aiming to kill migrants or foreigners and then himself, according to prosecutors.
The 69 year-old man killed three people outside a Kurdish cultural center Friday and wounded three others, and was then disarmed and subdued by one of the injured victims, the Paris prosecutor’s office said Sunday.
He was taken into custody on the spot and then transferred to psychiatric treatment Saturday. His name hasn’t been released. He could be charged with attempted murder, racially motivated murder and other arms violations if he is freed from psychiatric treatment.
The prosecutor’s office said in a statement Sunday that the suspect told investigators that a 2016 burglary at his home marked a turning point for him, sparking what he called a “hatred toward foreigners that became completely pathological.”
The shoot was done in a lively Parisian neighbourhood shook and angered the Kurdish communityIt raised concern about hate crimes in a time when far right voices have been rising to prominence in France, and elsewhere in Europe.
According to the statement of the prosecutor, the suspect said that the day before the shooting, he first took his weapon to Saint-Denis in Paris with the intention of killing foreigners. He then went to the Kurdish center in Paris, which is near his parents’ home.
After shooting at one woman and two other men, he entered a Kurdish hair salon across from him and began firing on three more. One of the wounded men in the hair salon managed to stop him and hold him until police arrived, the prosecutor’s statement said.
He told investigators he didn’t know his victims, and described all “non European foreigners” as his enemies, the statement said.
Sunday saw two of the wounded still in hospital with leg injuries.
According to the statement, investigators are currently looking into his phone and computer, but have not yet found any links to extremist ideology.
On Saturday, members of France’s Kurdish community and anti-racism activists joined together in a demonstration of mourning and anger. The marchers held portraits of victims and the gathering was peaceful.
Some youths set fire to cars and garbage bins with objects, and tear gas was used by police to disperse them. The Kurdish Democratic Council in France spokeswoman said that the violence started after people drove with a Turkish flag waving. Some marchers carried flags from the Kurdistan Workers Party (or PKK).
In Paris, three Kurdish women activists, including Sakine Kansiz, the founder of PKK, were gunned down in 2013.
Turkey’s army has long been battling against Kurdish militants affiliated with the banned PKK in southeast Turkey as well as in northern Iraq. Turkey’s military also recently launched a series of strikes from the air and with artillery against Syrian Kurdish militant targets in northern Syria.
Turkey, the United States, and the European Union consider PKK a terrorist group. However, Turkey accuses European countries of being lenient towards alleged PKK members. That frustration has been the main reason behind Turkey’s continued delay of Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership.
Hulusi Akar, Turkish Defense Ministry, said Sunday that violence in Paris was due to Turkey’s lenience toward PKK.
“The snake France fed is now biting them. Everyone should now see the real face of this terror organization,” Akar said.
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Zeynep Birginsoy contributed from Istanbul to this report.