Terror investigation underway after drive-by killing near Paris

A terror investigation has been opened after a ⁠person was killed and at least four others ⁠have ​been ⁠injured in a ⁠drive-by shooting in the ​Yvelines ⁠district west ‌of Paris.

Ali Rabeh, the mayor of the Yvelines town of Trappes, told BFMTV that a man had fired shots from his car and "appeared to be firing at random and seemed intent on carrying out a massacre".

He said one of those injured was a 12-year-old girl, adding that the shooter lived in a nearby town. There was no information so far about his motives, he said.

"It is a miracle that there were not more victims,” he said, adding that the suspect opened fire at various locations, including a playground.

Rabeh said the person killed was of African origin, while one of those critically wounded was of North African origin.

France’s National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s office said it opened a criminal investigation into several offenses, including “murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise with the aggravating circumstance that the act was committed on account of the victim’s actual or perceived membership of a particular race, ethnic group, nationality or religion.”

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu wrote on X that security forces had been fully mobilised, stating:"Very serious events have just occurred in Trappes, in the Yvelines. One person has been killed and four others injured.

"The individual has been apprehended and placed in police custody.

"All resources of the security forces and the judicial authority are fully mobilised.

"The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office has announced that it is monitoring the situation.

"The competent authorities will communicate in due course."

The shooting happened as France braces for another day of protests against the high cost of living on Saturday, with major museums closing their doors and the government deploying a significantly larger security presence to prevent a repeat of last week’s violent unrest which shocked the country.

Gun shops in the French capital told The Times that they had seen a rise in demand for “pepper-gel” self-defence weapons from shopkeepers desperate to protect their stores from looting.

French president Emmanuel Macron is expected to meet with high school unions on Friday in an 11th-hour attempt to quell unrest anticipated over the weekend.