Weapons found in car parked near synagogue in Paris Jewish suburb; terror probe launched

Some 300 people evacuated from area after military-grade rifle, handgun found in stolen vehicle; French interior minister says no motives or suspects identified

PARIS, France — French anti-terrorist prosecutors on Sunday opened an investigation after weapons were found in a car parked in a Paris suburb that is home to a large Jewish population.

Three hundred people were evacuated on Saturday evening from a neighborhood in Sarcelles, north of Paris, following reports of a suspicious vehicle, which was found to contain “a military-grade weapon,” according to France’s interior minister.

An investigation has been launched “on charges of forming a terrorist criminal organization with a view to preparing crimes involving attacks on persons and the transport, possession and acquisition of weapons in connection with a terrorist enterprise,” the prosecutors said.

France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on BFMTV that the vehicle was found near one of the town’s several synagogues.

“We do not yet know the motives,” Nunez said, adding that “the individuals have not yet been identified.”

A security cordon had been set up on Saturday evening around the car, which was parked in a busy neighborhood near a cinema and restaurants that were evacuated in the early evening.

Bomb disposal experts found no explosives, but according to a police source, the stolen car contained an assault-style rifle and a handgun.

Nunez stated that three attacks had been foiled since the start of the year, including a knife attack last February on a gendarme beneath the Arc de Triomphe during the ceremony to rekindle the flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

France, home to Western Europe’s largest Jewish population, has seen a surge in antisemitism since the October 7 massacre and the subsequent war.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.