A police intervention is underway in the 10th arrondissement of the capital. A 69-year-old man, known for two attempted homicides in 2016 and 2021, was arrested and taken into custody.
A man killed three people with a firearm and injured at least three others, one of whom is in an absolute emergency, Friday, December 23 a little before noon in the tenth arrondissement of Paris. A suspect has been arrested and taken into custody.
The facts took place rue d’Enghien, in the 10th arrondissement. The attack took place inside the Kurdish Cultural Center Ahmet Kaya. The respondent was arrested by a team from the Security and Intervention Company (CSI). He is 69 years old. He would have been taken to the hospital in relative emergency, according to the mayor of the 10th arrondissement, Alexandra Cordebard.
Read alsoShock and anger after the shooting at the Kurdish cultural center in Paris
The motivations “racistsare being examined, said Laure Beccuau, Paris prosecutor. The suspect is unfavorably known to justice for two attempted homicides. The first in Seine-Saint-Denis: in 2016, he was the victim of a burglary, during which he violently attacked his attacker, whom he stabbed. He had been tried for this case, before the prosecution appealed, without there being any more details on the case at this stage. The second on December 8, 2021. He had lacerated several tents of a migrant camp in the district of Bercy (12th arrondissement), with a saber. He had been indicted for this, for racist violence with a weapon and premeditation.
“An investigation has been opened into the counts of murder, intentional homicides and aggravated violence“Adds the prosecution, the investigations entrusted to the 2nd district of the judicial police (DPJ).
SEE ALSO – Shooting in Paris: a “Kurdish community center» referred
“Total Panic”
“Seven to eight shots in the street, it’s total panic, we stayed locked inside“, Testified to AFP a shopkeeper from a neighboring building wishing to remain anonymous. A large number of police and emergency personnel were on the scene. the Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin is on site.
A certain tension reigned around the police cordon, as shown by a video shot by our reporter on the spot, Jeanne Sénéchal. Passersby were asking for information, worried about their loved ones. Others insisted on circulating around the intervention zone.
Members of the Kurdish community gathered in the afternoon in front of the cordon of the police operation. Shouts “Erdoğan Assassinwere notably launched, before the situation does not degenerate, the security forces wiping projectile jets. The situation gradually calmed down in the evening.
Kurdish associations refute the “simple” attack by the far right
the Ahmet Kaya Kurdish Center, where the attack takes place, was named after the eponymous singer. This 1901 law association aims to “promote progressive integrationof the Kurdish population settled in Île-de-France and also includes a traditional restaurant. Ten years ago, in January 2013, three members of the PKK had been assassinated in the same district of Paris.
During a press conference given this Friday evening, the Kurdish associations refuted the thesis of an attack “far right”, highlighted by certain political personalities, in particular on the leftand judged “inadmissible» that the terrorist character is not, for the time being, retained by the authorities. “To make believe that a simple far-right activist, repeat offender, comes to commit (an attack) in our premises, in the headquarters of the association which brings together dozens of Kurdish organizations throughout France (…) is inadmissible“.
SEE ALSO – Shooting in Paris: the Kurdish community says it has “repeatedly alerted»
“The political situation in Turkey concerning the Kurdish movement makes it very clear to us that these are political assassinations“Said Agit Polat, spokesperson for the Kurdish Democratic Council in France, before adding that according to them, Turkish President Recep Tayyip “Erdogan and the Turkish state are behind these assassinations“.
He also called on the authorities to “stop (the) complacency with the Turkish authorities when it comes to the Kurds. One of the victims was responsible for the Kurdish women’s movement in France. This is not a simple attack organized by the extreme right. So far, the Kurdish community has never been targeted by the extreme right.»
In a statement, Paris Police Prefect Laurent Nunez announced that he will receive, “at the request of the President of the Republic and the Minister of the Interior“, the leaders of the Kurdish community Saturday at 10 am.
SEE ALSO – Shooting in Paris: “We absolutely do not believe in chance“says Jean-Luc Mélenchon