Paris shooting suspect ‘tells investigators of hatred of foreigners’

The man suspected of shooting dead three Kurds in Paris this week has told investigators of his “hatred of foreigners”, prosecutors say.

The suspected gunman, 69, was arrested on Friday after two men and a woman were shot dead at a Kurdish cultural centre in the French capital’s busy 10th district.

Three others were wounded, one of whom then managed to disarm the gunman, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.

Two of those injured remain in hospital but are stable.

The suspect said during questioning that a burglary at his home in 2016 had triggered a “hatred of foreigners that became totally pathological”, prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement.

The office had already suggested on Saturday that a suspected racist motive had been added to initial accusations of murder and weapons offences.

It had also indicated that the man had recently been freed from detention pending a trial for a sabre attack on a migrant camp in Paris a year ago.

Kurdish anger directed at police

The killings have shocked a community preparing to mark the anniversary of the unresolved murder of three activists 10 years ago.

In protests on Saturday, some demonstrators clashed with police.

Kurdish representatives have called for Friday’s shooting to be considered a terrorist attack.

The suspect, whose name has not been released, was detained at the scene and on Saturday transferred to psychiatric care.

He was then discharged from hospital and his police custody resumed on Sunday afternoon, the prosecutor’s office said in a later update.

He will face an investigating magistrate on Monday.

During earlier questioning, the man described himself as depressive and having suicidal tendencies.

He had planned to turn the on himself after his attack, the prosecutor said in the statement.

Two of those injured remain in hospital but are stable.