Paris prosecutors said on Sunday that the 69-year-old male suspect in the deadly shooting of three Kurdish people in the city admitted that he had a "hatred of foreigners" when he talked with investigators.
The individual was taken into official custody on Friday after fatally shooting two men and a woman at a Kurdish cultural center and nearby Kurdish cafe in the French capital's busy central 10th district.
Paris Shooting Suspect
Law enforcement officials said that the 69-year-old suspect was believed to be the only shooter in the horrific killings. The fatal shootings stunned a community that was preparing to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the unsolved murder of three activists, and prompted mass protests that have resulted in clashes with police.
The man said during questioning that a burglary at his home in 2016 was what triggered his intense hatred of foreigners that later became "pathological," said Laure Beccauau. After the suspect was transferred to a psychiatric unit on Saturday, he was discharged from the hospital and his police custody was resumed on Sunday afternoon, as per France24.
The prosecutor's office added that the suspect would be presented to an investigating magistrate on Monday. On Saturday, the office had already indicated that a suspected racist motive had been added to initial accusations of murder and weapons offenses.
When the man was previously questioned, he described himself as depressive and having suicidal tendencies. He also recounted that he had previously planned to kill himself with the last bullet after his attack, said the prosecutor's statement.
According to Al Jazeera, the suspect is a former train driver but no other details, including his identity, have been revealed to the public. The Kurdish community expressed anger following the attack, arguing concerns about hate crimes at a time when far-right voices have gained prominence in France and across Europe.
Hatred of Foreigners
During the morning of the day of the shooting, the suspect took his weapon first to the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, which is home to a large population of migrants. He was believed to have traveled with the aim of killing foreigners, but changed his mind, said prosecutors.
The man abandoned his initial plans as there were only a few people that were in the area and chose to instead head to a Kurdish center near his parents' home in Paris' 10th district. When he got to the area, he opened fire on one woman and two men who were already there.
Afterward, he entered a Kurdish-run hair salon across the street and shot at three other men, one of which was wounded but was able to stop the shooter and prevent him from escaping until law enforcement arrived at the scene.
The reason that the suspect targeted the Kurdish community was that Kurdish militiamen who were involved in the Syrian conflict took prisoners during their fight against Islamic State instead of killing them.
The suspect was detained on suspicion of murder, attempted murder, and acting with a racist motive. Furthermore, authorities found that the man had a history of weapons offenses and discovered that just days before the assault, he was released on bail, BBC reported.
