Three dead after shooting at Kurdish centre in Paris  

Three dead after shooting at Kurdish centre in Paris   

A 69-year-old gunman opened fire at a Kurdish cultural centre and a hairdressing salon in Paris on Friday, killing three people and injuring three others, witnesses and prosecutors said.

The shots shortly before midday (1100 GMT) caused panic in rue d'Enghien in the trendy 10th district of the capital, a bustling area of shops and restaurants that is home to a large Kurdish population.

Witnesses told AFP that the gunman, described by police as white and previously charged with racist violence, initially targeted the Kurdish cultural centre before entering a hairdressing salon where he was arrested by police.

"We saw an old white man enter, then start shooting in the Kurdish cultural centre, then he went to the hairdresser's next door," Romain, who works in a nearby restaurant, told AFP by telephone.

Another local resident, who asked to remain anonymous, told AFP: "There were people panicking, shouting to the police and pointing to the salon 'he's in there, he's in there, go in'."

He said he saw two people on the floor of the salon with leg wounds.

Of the three wounded people, one is in intensive care and two are being treated for serious injuries, officials said.

The Kurdish community centre, called Centre Ahmet Kaya, is used by a charity that organises concerts and exhibitions, and helps the Kurdish diaspora in the Paris region.

The gunman was described by police sources as "Caucasian", of French nationality, and was linked to two previous attempted murders in 2016 and 2021.-AFP