The suspect, aged 69, was arrested however the purpose for the taking pictures wasn’t instantly clear.
Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau stated one individual is in a important situation and two others are hospitalised with much less severe accidents after the taking pictures. The attacker was additionally wounded within the face, she stated.
The incident occurred round noon at a Kurdish cultural centre in addition to a restaurant and hairdresser close by, in accordance with the native mayor Alexandra Cordebard.
Speaking to reporters on the scene, she stated the “real motivation” for the shooting remains unclear.
As she spoke, a crowd nearby chanted, “Erdogan, terrorist” — referring to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan — and “Turkish state, murderer.”
“We noticed an outdated white man enter then begin taking pictures within the Kurdish cultural centre, then he went to the hairdresser’s subsequent door,” a restaurant worker told news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“It’s whole panic, we have locked ourselves in,” a shopkeeper told AFP.
Police cordoned off the area in the 10th arrondissement of the French capital on a busy street with shops and restaurants near the Gare de l’Est train station.
Authorities have asked for people to stay away from Strasbourg-Saint Denis, as investigations begin, while Paris is bustling with activity before the Christmas weekend.
The Paris prosecutor’s office opened an investigation for murder and attempted murder.
The Paris prosecutor said the suspect had a prior police record, including an arrest for attacking migrants living in tents, and that investigators are considering a possible racist motive for the shooting.
“Following the dramatic taking pictures which passed off this morning, I returned to Paris and can go to the scene. All my ideas go to the households of the victims. The perpetrator was arrested,” French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin tweeted.
While the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, praised police for their quick action in the incident.
Anti-terrorism prosecutors are in contact with investigators but haven’t indicated any sign of a terrorist motive at this stage.
In 2013, three women Kurdish activists, including Sakine Cansiz — a founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK — were found shot dead at a Kurdish center in Paris. A Turkish citizen was charged with their killing, although suspicion also fell on the Turkish intelligence service.
Turkey’s army has been battling against Kurdish militants affiliated with the banned PKK, in southeast Turkey as well as in northern Iraq.
Turkey’s military has also recently launched a series of strikes from the air and with artillery against Syrian Kurdish militant targets in northern Syria.
The PKK is considered a terrorist organization in Turkey, Europe and the United States, and has led an armed insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984.
France was hit by a string of lethal assaults by Islamic extremists in 2015-2016 and stays on alert for terrorism-related violence.
