The attack shocked Paris, shocks the author who killed the immigrants: I hate them. They're my enemies.

French authorities say the person who allegedly killed three Kurdish community members in Paris on Friday told investigators that he was leaving that morning with the intention of killing immigrants or foreigners, and then himself. During the age of nine, he killed three people outside a Kurdish cultural centre and injured three others. It was one of the wounded who had managed to disarm him, the Paris prosecutor's office said Sunday.

The suspect was detained at the scene and taken to a psychiatric hospital on Saturday. His name has not been made known. He is expected to face charges of racist murder, attempted murder. In a statement Sunday, the prosecutor's office said the suspect had told investigators that a theft in 2016 at his home had marked a turning point for him, sparking what he called “hatred of foreigners, completely pathological”.

The shooting attack in a populated Paris neighbourhood shocked and angered the Kurdish community, which also accompanied friendly clashes with police. The event has created concerns about hate-based crimes at a time when extreme right voices have gained weight in France and across Europe.

The suspect told investigators that he did not recognise the victims, which he described all as foreign, non-European” and his enemies, said in a statement by the prosecution. Two of the wounded are still hospitalised with leg injuries. Investigators are reviewing the computer and phone of the attack author, but have not found any confirmed links to groups representing extremist ideology. / VOA