PARIS — At least three people were killed in a shooting in central Paris, the Paris prosecutor said Friday, adding that the suspected attacker was known to authorities.
Laure Beccuau told reporters that the suspect was injured during his arrest and had been taken to hospital.
She said that investigators would look into any possible racist element behind the shooting on rue d’Enghien, a busy shopping street in Paris’ 10th arrondissement or district, that was bustling with shoppers ahead of the holiday weekend.
Anti-terrorism prosecutors were in contact with investigators, but had not indicated any sign of a terrorist motive, she added.
Earlier a judicial source close to the investigation told NBC News that two people had been killed and four people wounded in the attack. They said that two of the wounded were in critical condition. It was unclear whether one of the wounded had since died.
The judicial source added that the suspect was a 69-year-old man.
The shooting occurred in a Kurdish cultural center and a restaurant and hairdresser nearby, the mayor for the 10th arrondissement, Alexandra Cordebard, told reporters at the scene.
Paris’ Deputy Mayor Emmanuel Gregoire tweeted his thanks to security forces for their “swift action.”
“Thoughts for the victims and those who witnessed this drama,” he added.
The French capital has been rocked by multiple violent attacks in recent years. In 2020, a middle school teacher who showed caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad was decapitated by a man who was later shot dead by police.
In 2015, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for multiple coordinated gun and bomb attacks on entertainment venues around the city which left 130 dead and 368 wounded.
France remains on alert for terrorism-related violence.
Nancy Ing reported from Paris and Leila Sackur from London.
Reuters contributed.