The man suspected of killing and shooting three Kurds in Paris ahead of the Christmas weekend told investigators that he walked out that morning intending to kill migrants or foreigners and then himself, news agency Associated Press (AP) reported on Sunday quoting the prosecutor’s official statement.
The 69-year-old man killed three people and injured three others outside a Kurdish cultural centre on Friday before being disarmed and controlled by one of the injured victims, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office.
He was arrested at the scene and taken to a psychiatric facility on Saturday. His identity has not been revealed. He might face accusations of racially motivated murder, attempted murder, and firearms violations if he is released from psychiatric care.
The prosecutor’s office said in a statement Sunday that the suspect informed investigators that a home burglary in 2016 sparked a “hatred toward foreigners that became completely pathological” in him, as per the report by AP.
The shooting in a bustling Parisian area stunned and angered the Kurdish community, and it fueled fears of hate crimes at a time when far-right voices have gained influence in France and across Europe.
According to the prosecutor’s statement, the suspect told detectives that on the morning of the shooting, he carried his weapon to the Paris district of Saint-Denis with the intention of killing foreigners but changed his mind. He then went to a Kurdish centre near his parents’ house in Paris.
He opened fire on a woman and two men there then went across the street to a Kurdish-run hair salon and shot three men. According to the prosecutor’s statement, one of the injured men at the hair shop was able to restrain him and detain him until the police arrived.
According to the statement, he told investigators that he didn’t know his victims and classified all “non-European foreigners” as his enemies.
Two of the injured remained hospitalised on Sunday, both with leg injuries.
Investigators are looking into his computer and phone, but have found no verified links to terrorist ideology, according to the statement.
Anti-Racism Activists Marches After Deadly Attack On Kurds:
On Saturday, members of France’s Kurdish community and anti-racism activists marched in mourning and outrage. The march was mostly peaceful, with marchers carrying photos of the victims.
Some youths threw objects and set fire to a few cars and rubbish cans, prompting police to use tear gas to separate the gathering. According to a spokesperson for the Kurdish Democratic Council in France, the violence started when several people drove past waving a Turkish flag. Some marchers waved Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, flags.
Three women Kurdish activists, including PKK founder Sakine Cansiz, were found shot dead in a Kurdish centre in Paris in 2013.
Turkey’s army has long fought Kurdish militants connected with the proscribed PKK in southeast Turkey and northern Iraq. Turkey’s military has started a series of air and artillery strikes against Syrian Kurdish militant sites in northern Syria.
The PKK is considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union, while Turkey accuses several European countries of being too lenient against accused PKK members. This resentment has been the fundamental cause for Turkey’s continuing delay in admitting Sweden and Finland to NATO.
(With Inputs From Associated Press)