Three were killed and at least three others injured in a shooting at Kurdish cultural center in Paris on Friday, The Associated Press reports.
The 69-year-old suspect, who was wounded in the face and has been arrested, was recently released from jail "after attacking migrants living in tents," AP writes, per the Paris prosecutor's office. It appears a specific motive for the shooting has yet to be established, though investigators are considering race as a factor. The office has also opened an investigation "into murder, attempted murder, assault, and violation of France's firearm laws," summarizes The New York Times.
The gunman went first to the cultural center and then to a restaurant and hairdresser close by, according to the mayor of Paris' 10th district. One of those wounded is in critical condition and two others have been hospitalized with less-threatening injuries, added Prosecutor Laure Beccuau.
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"It's clearly the Kurds who were targeted," Kurdish activist Murat Roni told AP. "We do not at all feel protected in Paris. ... We don't feel defended by the French justice system."
On Twitter, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said, "Kurds, wherever they live, should be able to live in peace and security. More than ever, Paris is by their side in these dark times."
The shooting comes nearly 10 years after three female Kurdish activists affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party were shot and killed at a Parisian Kurdish center, AP adds. PKK, as the group is otherwise known, is considered a terrorist organization in Turkey, Europe, and the U.S.
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