PARIS — One person was killed and four others were seriously wounded when gunshots were fired from a vehicle in a Paris suburb on Friday, French authorities said, according to the Associated Press. France's National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's office took charge of the case and said it will investigate whether the shooting was racially motivated. A suspect was arrested and taken into police custody, police said.

Source: Associated Press (via 2822 News)

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said the shootings happened at three separate locations in the towns of Trappes and La Verrière, in the Yvelines department about 25 to 30 kilometres south-west of Paris, at around 10:30 a.m., Euronews reported. The suspect was arrested in nearby Coignières, a police source said. Nuñez said the suspect fired 'what appears to have been a military-grade weapon, or at least an automatic weapon,' according to AP.

Source: Euronews

Trappes Mayor Ali Rabeh told BFM TV that the gunman appeared to have fired relatively randomly, targeting passersby. 'It is a miracle that there were not more victims,' he said, adding that the suspect opened fire at various locations, including a playground, AP reported. Rabeh said the person killed was of African origin, while one of those critically wounded was of North African origin. La Verrière Mayor Nicolas Dainville said a 12-year-old girl was among the wounded and that her condition was stable, Sky News reported; Awaaz Punjab is not naming or identifying any minor victim.

The anti-terrorism prosecutor's office said it opened a criminal investigation into several offences, including 'murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise with the aggravating circumstance that the act was committed on account of the victim's actual or perceived membership of a particular race, ethnic group, nationality or religion,' AP reported. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said all available resources of the security forces and judicial authorities had been fully mobilised, Sky News reported.

Source: Sky News (via Great Yorkshire Radio)

The shooting happened as France braces for another day of protests against the high cost of living on Saturday, with major museums closing their doors and the government deploying a significantly larger security presence — about 70,000 security personnel, according to Sky News — to prevent a repeat of last week's violent unrest. The motive for Friday's shooting remains unclear, authorities said.