Suspect in Paris shooting admits to having ‘extreme hatred of foreigners’

PARIS

A 69-year-old French man who is suspected of shooting three people dead in Paris has confessed to having an extreme hatred of foreigners, local media outlets said Sunday, a day after he was transferred to a police psychiatric unit for evaluation.

The man was later discharged from the unit and retaken into custody, reports said.

He will be brought before an investigating judge on Monday.

The suspect -- a retired train driver named as William M., who is reportedly a gun enthusiast with a history of weapons offences -- said that on Friday, the day of the attack, he went to Seine-Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of the capital where mostly immigrants live, to kill foreigners but decided to go to the 10th district instead.

The gunman opened fire Friday at a cultural center and nearby hairdressing salon, killing at least three people and wounding three others, according to local media reports.

On Saturday, a doctor who examined the man concluded that his health was not compatible with the conditions of detention and he was transferred to a police psychiatric unit.

Reports said that police records indicate that the man had attempted murder twice in 2016 and 2021 and attacked a migrant center in Paris with a sword in December 2021, wounding two people, and had been jailed and released from prison earlier this month.

Local media outlets said the suspect’s only regret is not being able to commit suicide, as he was understood to be “depressive” and “suicidal.”

*Writing by Merve Berker