WARZONE PARIS
Paris shooting: Riots sweep city after ‘far-Right’ gunman ‘kills 3 in racist rampage while on bail for migrant attack’
RIOTS have broken out in Paris after a racist gunman killed three in a horror mass shooting.
At least 11 cops have been injured in violence in the French capital following the attack.
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The French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said that the shooting suspect "obviously wanted to target foreigners".
Dramatic pictures show burning barricades in the Paris streets, just minutes from the Gare du Nord Eurostar terminal.
Riot cops have fired tear gas at the crowds, while protesters have hurled missiles at the lines of police.
Members of the Kurdish community had earlier gathered at the scene of the shooting to mourn.
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Fires have been started by protesters and barricades formed as the city erupts in anger.
Pictures show an injured protester being carried to safety by the crowd and hurt police officers being pulled away from the riots by colleagues.
Emergency services were scrambled to the 10th arrondissement in the north of Paris just after 12pm on Friday following reports that at least eight gunshots had been heard.
The killer is reported to be a 69-year-old retired train driver, named only as William M.
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One woman and two men were killed and at least three people have been seriously injured.
All three victims were reportedly Kurdish activists, according to French paper Le Monde.
One of those injured is in a critical condition after the alleged gunman "fired blindly" in the street, according to the leading newspaper.
The gunman is a suspected far-right extremist who was released from jail just days earlier for attacking two migrants with a sabre-type sword.
A shopkeeper close to the scene of the shooting said she heard seven or eight shots.
"It was total panic," she said. "We locked ourselves inside."
A source close to the scene said: "A pensioner got into the building and appeared to start shooting at random.
"Police were called and arrested him, while also confiscating his weapon. The authorities are now advising people to avoid the area."
The shooting took place close to a Kurdish cultural centre on Rue d'Enghien in the 10th Arrondissement of the French capital.
It is just minutes from Gare du Nord station, where millions of Brits arrive every year on the Eurostar from Kings Cross.
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The district of northern Paris has a large Kurdish population.
An investigator said: "He was armed with a gun and deliberately targeted an area full of immigrants, including recent arrivals sleeping rough.
"He threatened people in a hairdresser, a restaurant, and people close to the Ahmet-Kaya Kurdish cultural centre. He seemed intent on killing as many people as he could."
A total of eight shots were fired in the attack, with a restaurant and a hairdresser also affected.
Police have urged people to stay away from the scene after gunshots rang out just after midday local time (11am GMT).
The suspected gunman has been arrested and has been rushed to hospital in "relative urgency", according to the mayor of the 10th arrondissement, Alexandra Cordebard.
A hero cop was able to wrestle the gun from the alleged killer's hands in a hair salon to stop the horror rampage.
He seemed intent on killing as many people as he could
Investigator
An investigating detective said: "He is a French national who was with SNCF [the French national railway company] for many years.
"He was arrested at the scene and is cooperating with the authorities. He is now under investigation for murder and aggravated violence."
French television network BFM TV has claimed that the suspected killer was previously arrested in December last year for attacking two migrants at a camp in Paris with a sword.
It reports that the alleged gunman was arrested a year ago on suspicion of racist violence using weapons after slashing two Sudanese men in a migrant camp in Paris's 12th arrondissement.
A sabre is a sword with a curved blade, associated with cavalrymen from the Napoleonic era.
"He used a sabre to slice two men, and damage six tents at a camp in the Bercy park in the 12th arrondissement of Paris," said the investigating source.
They went on: "He was wounded when one of the refugees was disarming him. Two Sudanese refugees were badly wounded in the attack."
The suspect had been freed from jail just 11 days earlier pending trial for the attack on the camp.
He was also convicted for "violent behaviour" in 2016.
Friday's killing coincides with the 10th anniversary of the murder of three Kurdish female politicians in Paris.
The 10th arrondissement will be "cordoned off all day," according to Mayor Cordebard.
Anti-terror police in France have announced that they are investigating the shooting.
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Despite being out on bail ahead of his trial, he was still able to get hold of a gun just after his release from prison.
An eyewitness told Medya Haber TV: "A person who came to the front of the association opened fire on those in front of the association."
One local who witnessed the arrest said the man was seized by police in a hair salon.
"There were people panicking, shouting to the police and pointing to the salon, 'he's in there, he's in there, go in,'" he said.
The man added that he saw two people on the floor of the salon with wounds on their legs.
Video on French media shows the suspect being led away from the salon in handcuffs by armed cops.
Paris's public prosecutor Laure Beccuau said that the suspect suffered injuries to his face and is in hospital.
A police source told AFP: "The shooter has been arrested with his weapon. The danger is over."
Paris's Mayor Anne Hidalgo has branded the alleged attacker an "extreme right-wing activist" on Twitter.
"The Kurdish community and, through it, all Parisians, was targeted by these assassinations committed by an extreme right-wing activist," she tweeted. "Kurds wherever they reside must be able to live in peace and security.
"More than ever, Paris is by their side in these dark hours."
She also thanked cops for their quick response to take down the gunman.
"Thank you to the police for their decisive intervention this morning during the terrible attack in the 10th," she tweeted. "Thoughts to the victims and their families. We are on their side."
She added that counselling services were being offered in the 10th Arrondissement.
French President Emmanuel Macron has broken his silence on the killings.
Writing on Twitter, he said: "The Kurds of France have been the target of a heinous attack in the heart of Paris.
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"Thoughts to the victims, to the people who are struggling to live, to their families and loved ones. Recognition to our law enforcement for their courage and composure."
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne has described the shooting as a "heinous act" and offered "full support" to the victims.
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