Three killed in attack on Kurdish center in Paris

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Three people were killed on Friday, after a gunman attacked a group of people at a Kurdish center in the French capital of Paris.

"There are three dead, one person in intensive care and two people with serious injuries, and the suspect, who was arrested, has also been injured, notably to the face," prosecutor Laure Beccuau told reporters at the scene, reported AFP.

The Guardian reported that, according to the French Le Parisien newspaper, a 69-year old-man opened fire on the Ahmet-Kaya Kurdish cultural center on rue d’Enghien in the French capital’s 10th arrondissement.

The attacker also attacked a nearby Kurdish owned-restaurant and a hairdresser. 

"The shooter has been arrested with his weapon. The danger is over," a police source told AFP. "His motives remain unknown at this stage." 

Resident Emmanuel Boujenan told AFP that the man had been arrested at a hair salon.

The AFP reported that the gunman was described by police as white and known for two previous attempted murders.

"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.

The French BFM TV also reported that the alleged perpetrator of the attack was arrested a year ago after attacking a migrant camp with a sword and was under judicial investigation for racist violence.

The attack came ahead of the tenth anniversary of the murder of three Kurdish activists in 2013 in Paris.

Sakine Cansiz, the co-founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), along with two other female Kurdish activists, Fidan Doğan, and Leyla Şaylemez, were murdered on Jan. 9, 2013, in Paris, France.

Story was updated on 4:37 PM