Shooting in Trappes: Pengo Bossio Wangi, 26-year-old MMA fighter, killed
A 26-year-old man, an amateur MMA fighter in Aubervilliers, was killed on Friday in a shooting in Trappes (Yvelines). Five other people were wounded in an attack described as terrorist in nature and racially motivated.
Racist shooting in Yvelines: profile of the young man killed
Pengo Bossio Wangi, 26, died on Friday on Place Pergaud in Trappes after being struck by bullets fired in rapid bursts. According to TF1 Info, he was the first target of a gunman travelling in a light grey Renault Clio, apprehended shortly after his attack which also wounded five other people, including a 12-year-old child and one individual in critical condition in La Verrière.
Born 12 September 2000 in Poissy in Yvelines, Wangi had studied at Gustave Courbet secondary school in Trappes. He was an amateur MMA fighter and regularly attended the Atch Academy in Aubervilliers, a club where he enjoyed the respect of his peers for his commitment and ethics.
The club published a message in tribute on Friday evening: "It is with immense sadness and profound shock that the Atch Academy family learned of Pengo's death, fallen today in Trappes. Pengo was one of us. On the mats as elsewhere, he was one of those who set an example: present, respectful, always ready to push others to be better. His smile, his energy and his generosity will remain engraved in our walls and in our hearts."
The national counter-terrorism prosecution office has taken over the investigation. The suspect, a 39-year-old French national named Kévin T., was taken into custody on Friday morning for "murder" and "attempted murder" in connection with a terrorist enterprise. He is suspected of having targeted individuals because of their origin or alleged membership of an ethnicity, nation or religion.
His criminal record contains four convictions for common crimes. When arrested, police seized a Sten pistol, a tear-gas canister and cocaine from his car. Gas canisters were also discovered at his home.
President Macron, visiting Trappes on Friday evening, described the act as a "terrorist attack, racist". He referred to a "turning point" on account of the targeted nature of the attack: "This is the first time there has been a premeditated terrorist act to kill our compatriots, our children, because of their skin colour or the religion ascribed to them."
Mayor Ali Rabeh denounced a "racially motivated attack, probably Islamophobic". He noted that the deceased person was of African origin and that one of the critical-condition victims was of North African origin.
The suspect's custody, possible for 96 hours, was still ongoing on Friday evening.
Source: TF1 Info