Paris: Mass Shooting In French Capital, Three Dead, Several Injured, Says Report

Paris shooting: The mass shooting took place at a Kurdish cultural centre on Rue d'Enghien.

Several people have been injured in the Paris shooting incident

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Three people died and several are critically injured after a gunman opened fire in Paris, the capital of France, AFP reported. The mass shooting took place at a Kurdish cultural centre on Rue d'Enghien in the 10th Arrondissement of Paris.

Police have arrested the suspected gunman, French television network BFM TV reported. The killer is reported to be a man in his 70s.

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

An eyewitness told AFP that the gunman was arrested in a hair salon. "There were people panicking, shouting to the police and pointing to the salon 'he's in there, he's in there, go in'," he said. He said he saw two people on the floor of the salon with leg wounds.

Paris police asked the public to avoid the Rue d'Enghien area. Emergency services have been rushed to a community centre close to Paris's Gare du Nord station.

The area is close to a number of busy shopping streets and the Grand Rex, often described as Europe's biggest cinema.

A shopkeeper close to the shooting site said she heard seven or eight shots. "It was total panic. We locked ourselves inside," she told The Sun.

The Paris prosecutor's office said an investigation was launched.

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Paris saw its worst terror attack in 2015 when a series of bombings and shootings across the French capital killed 130 people and injured more than 490.

The attacks, for which Islamic State claimed responsibility, began when suicide bombers struck outside the national sports stadium on the night of November 13, 2015. It was followed by shootings and suicide bombings targeting cafes and restaurants. A gun attack at the Bataclan theatre during a rock concert by Eagles of Death Metal killed 90 people.