Paris shooter was ‘clearly targeting foreigners’: minister

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French riot police officers run to disperse protestors during a clash following a statement by French Interior Minister at the site where several shots were fired along rue d’Enghien in the 10th arrondissement, in Paris on December 23, 2022. – Three people were killed and three injured in a shooting in central Paris on December 23, 2022, police and prosecutors said, adding that the shooter, in his 60s, had been arrested. The motives of the gunman remain unclear, with two of the four injured left in a serious condition, the French officials said. (Photo by Thomas SAMSON / AFP)

Paris, France (AFP)    A 69-year-old gunman who opened fire at a Kurdish cultural centre and a hairdressing salon in Paris on Friday was deliberately seeking out foreigners, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said.

The man, a retired train driver, “was clearly targeting foreigners”, Darmanin told reporters, adding however that it was “not certain” that the man was aiming to kill “Kurds in particular”.

Darmanin said: “We yet don’t know his exact motives.”

There was also no information so far on links of the suspect with ultra-right activists, he said.

The man is a member of a shooting sports club “and has several registered weapons”, the minister said.

Protestors clash with French riot police officers following a statement by French Interior Minister at the site where several shots were fired along rue d’Enghien in the 10th arrondissement, in Paris on December 23, 2022. – Three people were killed and three injured in a shooting in central Paris on December 23, 2022, police and prosecutors said, adding that the shooter, in his 60s, had been arrested. The motives of the gunman remain unclear, with two of the four injured left in a serious condition, the French officials said. (Photo by Thomas SAMSON / AFP)

Asked whether any of the victims in Friday’s shooting had links to the Kurdish PKK movement, designated a terrorist organisation by the EU and others, Darmanin said they appeared not to have been known to France’s security services.

Darmanin said he had ordered tighter security at Kurdish meeting places in France, as well at Turkish diplomatic offices.

Officials were to meet to evaluate the likelihood of any further threats to the Kurdish community in Paris or elsewhere in France, he said.

© Agence France-Presse