The Albany Gazette - France extends detention of suspected racist shooter

The source also reported the presence of a Bible and a Koran in the apartment of the 39-year-old suspect, partly identified as Kevin T., in the town of Plaisir outside Paris.

He was arrested Friday in possession of a submachine gun and tear-gas grenades in his car, after the victims were shot as a vehicle drove through the working-class town of Trappes and neighbouring La Verriere.

One of those wounded was a 12-year-old girl who was hit by bullets eight times. She is in critical condition, authorities said.

French anti-terror investigators said earlier Saturday they had extended his detention.

President Emmanuel Macron branded the shooting a "racist terrorist attack", as most of the victims were from foreign backgrounds.

The victim was identified as Pengo Bossio Wangi, a 26-year-old of African origin who was an up-and-coming mixed martial arts fighter.

Hundreds of people rallied Saturday at the spot where he was killed, brandishing placards that called for "justice" and holding a minute of silence in his memory.

"It could have been anyone. He opened fire on blacks, Arabs. He knew the majority of the population here in Trappes is Muslim," a local shopkeeper of North African origin told AFP.

- 'Racism kills' -

The shooting comes at a moment of deep divisions in France, which is heading for elections in six months' time with far-right candidate Marine Le Pen leading in opinion polls.

Political and social tensions boiled over a week ago into riots that have marred the country's image ahead of the vote to choose Macron's successor.

As France held another day of protests on Saturday, some placards referenced the shooting, blaming Le Pen's anti-immigrant National Rally (RN) party for a climate of intolerance.

"Racism kills. The far right kills," a lawmaker from the far-left France Unbowed (LFI) party, Mathilde Panot, said at the rally near the spot of the shooting.

Le Pen called for a "relentless" investigation and said it was "despicable" if racism was the shooter's motive.

The victim's family said the shooter was known to the authorities, and demanded to know whether he had been properly monitored.

In a statement released by their lawyer, they called for an investigation into potential failures on the part of the authorities and "to exhaustively establish the path that led to (the shooter's) radicalisation".

Investigators said the man had booby-trapped his apartment with gas bottles and electrical wires connected to a timer.

The French National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office (PNAT), which is handling the case, said the suspect's time in detention was extended after initial interrogations.

Four members of the suspect's family and circle of friends were also arrested and questioned by investigators -- including his parents, a source close to the case told AFP.

(R.White--TAG)