The 69-year-old “always wanted to kill migrants or foreigners,” according to the Paris public prosecutor.
The alleged assassin, who is said to have shot three Kurds in Paris, has admitted that hatred of foreigners has become pathological, according to French authorities.
Since his apartment was broken into six years ago, the 69-year-old has “always wanted to kill migrants or foreigners,” the Paris prosecutor said on Sunday.
He set out Friday morning to kill migrants or foreigners and then himself, prosecutors added.
He killed three people outside a Kurdish cultural center and wounded three others before being disarmed and overpowered by one of the injured victims.
The suspect, reportedly a former train driver, was arrested at the scene and admitted to psychiatric treatment on Saturday. His name was not published.
If he is released from psychiatric treatment, he faces charges of racially motivated murder, attempted murder and weapons violations.
At a demonstration in Paris, there are clashes between demonstrators and the police [File: Sarah Meyssonnier/Reuters]
Trouble in Paris
The shooting in a busy Parisian neighborhood shocked and angered the Kurdish community and raised concerns about hate crimes at a time when far-right voices have been gaining traction in France and across Europe.
On the morning of the shooting, the suspect initially took his gun to the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis – home to a large migrant population – with the aim of killing foreigners, but changed his mind, prosecutors said.
He gave up his plan as few people were there and went to a Kurdish center near his parents’ home in the city’s 10th district.
He opened fire at a woman and two men before entering a Kurdish-run hair salon across the street and shooting at three men. One of the wounded at the hair salon managed to stop and hold him until police arrived, the prosecutor’s statement said.
Members of the Kurdish community protest in Paris [File: Sarah Meyssonnier/Reuters]
Many in the Kurdish community have expressed anger at the French security services, saying they did too little to stop the shooting.
The suspect, reportedly a gun enthusiast with a history of gun offenses who was released on bail earlier this month, told investigators he didn’t know his victims and described all “non-European foreigners” as his enemies.
He was arrested with his gun, four magazines containing a total of 14 rounds and a box containing another 25 rounds of ammunition. He wanted to use up all the ammunition and kill himself with the last shot, prosecutors said.
On Saturday, members of France’s Kurdish community and anti-racism activists joined in a demonstration of grief and anger.
While the gathering was largely peaceful and protesters held portraits of the victims, some youths threw objects and set some cars on fire, and police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd.