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Racist attack in Trappes: the alleged shooter said he wanted to avenge the looted merchants on October 17 and targeted people based on their skin color

Alleged racist shooter claims he targeted Black and Arab residents to avenge looted merchants

A 39-year-old man opened fire from a vehicle in Trappes and La Verrière in the Yvelines department on Friday, October 23, killing one person and wounding five others. The alleged shooter, identified as Kevin T., told police he wanted to avenge merchants whose stores were looted during protests on October 17 and that he deliberately targeted people based on their skin colour, according to reporting by Le Monde. The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office has opened an investigation for "assassination in connection with a terrorist enterprise committed on grounds of true or supposed membership to a purported race."

What happened

Kevin T., born in 1987 and known to police but not to intelligence services, carried out what authorities are treating as a racially motivated mass shooting across two towns on Friday morning. Beginning around 10 a.m., he fired automatically from his car at multiple locations in Trappes, then continued to La Verrière before being stopped at a Kiloutou rental facility in Coignières, according to Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez and reporting by La Provence.

24 October 2026 · Policy & Law
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