Trappes attack: suspect in custody, a "12 km murderous route"
Kévin T., 39, fired 128 bullets at eight different locations on 23 October. One dead and five injured; the suspect contests the racist motive.
Suspect in custody for racist attack
According to ledauphine.com, the custody of Kévin T., 39, suspect in the racist attack in Trappes and La Verrière (Yvelines), resumed Monday at 14:56 at the Paris judicial court. The counter-terrorism public prosecutor, Olivier Christen, detailed a "premeditated murderous route" of 12 kilometres during which the suspect fired 128 bullets. Transferred to a specialist unit due to incoherent remarks and abnormal behaviour reported by his relatives, the man was examined again by a psychiatrist who determined that questioning could resume.
Details of the attack
On 23 October at around 10 o'clock, Kévin T. opened fire at eight different locations. Pengo Bossio Wangi, 26, was killed and five people were injured. Three of the injured remained hospitalised; one victim's prognosis remained life-threatening, whilst that of an 11 or 12-year-old girl was no longer in danger as of Sunday. Investigators counted 128 munitions fired during this premeditated operation.
Arrested without resistance by the Anti-Crime Brigade of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, the suspect had cannabis and cocaine in his blood. Police found in his vehicle a Sten submachine gun, a knife, a tear-gas canister and a police armband. A trap discovered at his home was functional.
Investigation and suspect's position
The investigation is open for "murder and attempted murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise", with the aggravating circumstance of racism given the profile of the majority of the victims and the suspect's statements. Kévin T. admits to "the factual basis of the acts" but "contests the racist character of his crimes", the counter-terrorism prosecutor declared. According to a source close to the case, this factory worker in the automotive industry, single, radicalised towards the far right over the past ten years by "blaming Arabs and Black people for everything".
Custody can last until Thursday at 0:36. The earlier suspension had been heavily criticised by Me Yassine Bouzrou, lawyer for the victim's family, who denounced a "worrying recurrence" of prioritising psychiatry in far-right attacks — an accusation that former counter-terrorism prosecutor Jean-François Ricard judged to be entirely inaccurate.
Political mobilisations
Several rallies took place Monday in support of the victims. In La Courneuve (Seine-Saint-Denis), before several hundred people gathered against racism and Islamophobia, Jean-Luc Mélenchon expressed his "rage" and his "shame at seeing our country debased by this crime". The city's left-wing mayor, Aly Diouara, pointed to the "immense responsibility" of those with the largest platforms in the country, explicitly naming the far right.
In Paris, Place Stalingrad, socialists Olivier Faure, Boris Vallaud and Jérôme Guedj were present, as was Raphaël Glucksmann. The social-democratic candidate announced on RTL that he would travel to Trappes on Friday for another rally, where he hopes to find "hundreds of thousands of citizens" committed to a Republic "where you do not risk your life because you are black or because you are Arab".
The prosecutor requested that no images of the attack be broadcast, with videos circulating since Sunday on social media. Their sharing is subject to a 15,000 euro fine.
Source: Google News FR — Crime (fr)