The French public prosecutor's office decided to extend the detention of the 69-year-old man suspected of killing three Kurds with a pistol and injuring three others in Paris on Friday, according to a statement on Saturday, noting that the investigation also considered racial motives.

The investigations are now focusing on charges of murder, attempted murder, and armed violence, in addition to violations of weapons laws motivated by racial reasons. The prosecutor's office said: "Adding this does not change the maximum possible penalty, which remains life imprisonment."

The man had confirmed that he fired because he is "racist," a source close to the ongoing investigations said on Saturday to determine his motives.

The source also stated that the suspect, who was controlled prior to the police intervention, was stopped with a "small bag" containing "two or three magazines filled with cartridges, and a box of .45 caliber cartridges containing at least 25 cartridges," confirming information published by the French weekly "Le Journal du Dimanche." It was explained that the weapon used is a "Colt 45-1911" pistol and "appears worn out." 

The incident occurred on a street near a Kurdish cultural center in a bustling commercial neighborhood frequented by the Kurdish community. The shooter had previously committed acts of violence with a weapon in the past. Three people were killed in the shooting, two men and a woman, and a man was seriously injured while two others suffered less serious injuries.

The woman who was killed is Amina Kara, a leader in the Kurdish women's movement in France, according to the Kurdish Democratic Council in France. The movement's spokesperson Ajit Bulat said in a press conference on Friday that she had applied for political asylum, "which was rejected by the French authorities."

The two men who were killed are Abdul Rahman Kizil, an "ordinary Kurdish citizen" who frequented the cultural center "daily," and Mir Berwer, a Kurdish artist and political refugee "persecuted in Turkey because of his art," according to the same source. A police source confirmed the identities of Amina Kara and Abdul Rahman Kizil to the French news agency.

In the same context, French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the "disgraceful attack" that "targeted Kurds in France." At his request, the Paris police chief will meet with Kurdish community officials on Saturday morning. They announced a Kurdish demonstration at noon on Saturday in Paris.

The alleged attacker, who sustained minor injuries to his face during his arrest, is known to the judiciary. He was sentenced last June to 12 months in prison for committing acts of violence with a weapon in 2016. He appealed the verdict. He was also accused in December 2021 of committing racially motivated acts of violence, with premeditation using weapons and causing damage for acts committed on December 8, 2021. In this second case, he is suspected of wounding migrants with a white weapon in a camp in Paris and damaging their tents, a police source said at the time.

Also, Laura Piquet, the Paris public prosecutor, said that after his preventive detention for a year, he was released on December 12 under the law and placed under judicial supervision.