A man fires indiscriminately at passers-by in Trappes, east of Paris. The spiral of violence in France

Paris. He intended to carry out a mass shooting. This morning, in Trappes and La Verrière, in the eastern suburbs of Paris, a 39-year-old man, Kevin Tertrais, fired indiscriminately from inside his grey Renault Clio, killing one person and injuring four, two of whom are in a serious condition. To target his victims, the attacker used a Sten Mk II submachine gun, a Second World War collector’s item. The spate of violence began at Place Louis-Pergaud in Trappes, where the man killed a 26-year-old man of African origin, Pengo B., and continued at the Esso petrol station on the N10, where he seriously injured a 21-year-old man, Ahmed. The 39-year-old then headed to La Verrière, a neighbouring town, where he injured two refuse collectors, Samba C. (aged 29) and Ibrahima S. (aged 48), outside the Bois de l’Étang chemist’s, before continuing towards Rue Marcel-Rivière, where he fired eight shots at a 12-year-old girl of Maghrebi origin, leaving her fighting for her life.

The 39-year-old’s deadly rampage came to an end in Coignières, where he was arrested by officers from the BAC, the French national police’s anti-crime brigade. According to a police source speaking to Le Figaro, he was in possession of cocaine and tear gas canisters at the time of his arrest. Before leaving, the man had left the gas tap running in his flat. According to a source close to the case interviewed by Le Figaro, “the flat was a trap” and bomb disposal experts and officers from the RAID, the elite unit of the national police, had to intervene to secure the building. The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office has opened an investigation into “murder in connection with a terrorist act”, with the aggravating circumstance that the offences were allegedly committed “on the grounds of actual or presumed membership of a specific race, ethnicity, nation or religion”, as well as for criminal association for the purposes of terrorism. “It looks like a killing spree, but we do not know the motives,” said Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez as he made his way to the scene.

According to Ali Rabeh, the Socialist mayor of Trappes, the attacker “was clearly firing indiscriminately and intended to carry out a massacre”. Rabeh emphasised that the victims in Trappes were of African and Maghreb origin, stating that this was an “attack with racist undertones, probably Islamophobic”. The mayor of La Verrière, Nicolas Dainville, stated that the attacker “was targeting people of colour”. According to a police source quoted by *Le Figaro*, he is said to have targeted people of Maghreb origin and veiled women. However, Kevin Tertrais, born in 1987 in Saint-Cyr-l’École, in the Paris region, presents a complex profile.

An analysis of his Facebook account does not reveal the typical profile of a white supremacist, but rather that of an incel (involuntary celibate) consumed by loneliness, who posts in groups such as ‘Schizophrenie: approche psychologique’ with messages such as: “I have a mental health condition – nothing serious – but the loneliness is getting to me and I’m also looking for friends; I’m all alone in the world lol, so if there’s a single woman out there, I’m up for it.” He is not known to the courts, but he is known to the police for minor offences, particularly drug-related offences. Since 2020, he has been employed at a company that hires people with disabilities, and his colleagues describe him as an isolated individual grappling with psychological issues. “Deeply moved by the shooting in Trappes and La Verrière. One person has died. Several others are seriously injured.”

At the time of his arrest, according to what MP Laurent Mazaury told BfmTV, the man “made no secret” of the fact that he was “there to kill people he considered to be of foreign origin”. "Our thoughts are with the victims, their families, and all the residents of the Yvelines department. In this terrible ordeal, the nation stands by them," wrote French President Emmanuel Macron in a post on X. The shooting comes at a time of great social tension in the country, on the eve of the second round of protests against the cost of living. To prevent further scenes of devastation and urban unrest, Macron has ordered a 20 per cent increase in police numbers compared with last Saturday: 70,000 officers will be deployed across the country, and elite units from the police and gendarmerie (RAID, GIGN and BRi) will also be involved.

In Nice and Montpellier, demonstrations have been banned, whilst in Paris a single march has been authorised from Bastille to Nation, in the east of the capital, in which the CGT, the Yellow Vests and student movements will take part. In Orléans, between 20,000 and 30,000 people are expected today to protest against the Rassemblement National congress led by Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella, scheduled for the weekend. Tomorrow afternoon, on the second and final day of the congress, Marine Le Pen is due to give a speech, and the Loiret prefecture has banned all demonstrations, including those already announced by trade unions and groups such as Ciao Fachos.