Paris suburb shooting suspect moved to psychiatric unit for 48-hour observation

Centre · 2A man suspected of a gun attack in the Paris suburbs that killed one person and wounded five has left police custody and been placed in a psychiatric unit for observation, French anti-terror prosecutors (PNAT) said on Sunday 25 October. 1 2 Centre · 2The 39-year-old, partly identified as Kevin T., was arrested on Friday 23 October with a submachine gun and tear-gas grenades in his car, shortly after the victims were shot as a vehicle drove through Trappes and neighbouring La Verrière. 2 3 Centre · 2PNAT had extended his detention on Saturday to continue questioning, but after a psychiatric examination on Saturday evening it said his custody had been lifted and, following a psychiatric expert's conclusions, he was moved to the police psychiatric unit for an observation period "likely to last 48 hours". 2 1

Mixed · 2The observation should help evaluate whether his psychiatric health is compatible with continuing his interrogation, prosecutors said. 3 4 Mixed · 2PNAT also said traces of cannabis and cocaine were found in his blood; RFI noted it did not specify what role, if any, they played. 4 1 Centre · 2President Emmanuel Macron called the shooting a "racist terrorist attack", as most victims were from foreign backgrounds; the BBC reports he said people were targeted over skin colour or religion and that it marked a "turning point in the life of our Republic and our nation". 2 3

Centre · 2The person killed was Pengo Bossio Wangi, a 26-year-old man of Congolese origin, described by the BBC as a French-Congolese martial artist whose club paid tribute to him. 2 3 Centre · 2Among the wounded, a 12-year-old girl hit by bullets eight times remained in critical condition according to France 24, RFI and AFP, while the BBC reported that La Verrière's mayor, Nicolas Dainville, said after speaking to her mother that she was "doing better"; the BBC said another injured resident was recovering and a third remained critical. 2 3 Centre · 2Police searched the suspect's home in Plaisir, where, according to a source close to the investigation, they found a Bible, a Quran and a copy of Hitler's Mein Kampf; RFI said the significance of these items has not been established. 2 1

Centre · 1The BBC reported that the suspect was known to police but not to intelligence services, and that PNAT said he had four earlier convictions that had been "automatically expunged"; it said he is thought to have used an old semi-automatic weapon, firing in bursts from his car window. 3 Centre · 1The lawyer for the man killed told French media the move was "very rare" and alleged it was being used to portray the suspect as criminally irresponsible rather than as having acted deliberately; this is an allegation, and prosecutors have not said so. 3 Centre · 2The shooting comes amid deep divisions in France, with a presidential election due in about six months, far-right candidate Marine Le Pen leading polls, and riots a week earlier. 2 1