2 dead, four injured in Paris shooting; gunman arrested

Two people were reported dead following a shooting incident in Central Paris. Local media reports suggested the shooter was arrested. The motives of the gunman were unclear, with two of the four injured left in a serious condition in rue d'Enghien in the trendy 10th arrondissement.

Two people died and four have been wounded, including two in a critical condition, after a shooting in central Paris, French media reported. Reports suggest that 69-year-old man opened fire on a group of people at the Ahmet-Kaya Kurdish cultural centre on rue d’Enghien in the French capital’s 10th arrondissement.

Paris prosecutors informed media that the suspected shooter had been apprehended and his weapon had been confiscated shortly after the attack. According to accounts, the suspect, a French national, was a former train conductor. According to a prosecutor's office representative, an inquiry has been initiated for murder, voluntary manslaughter, and severe assault.

Paris police tweeted that a police operation was under way and asked people to avoid the area, which is close to a number of busy shopping streets and the Grand Rex, often described as Europe’s biggest cinema.

Anne Hidalgo, the Mayor of Paris, conveyed his condolences to the victims and thanked the police for their "decisive" intervention during the "terrible attack". 

One witness told AFP that seven or eight shots were fired, sowing mayhem in the street.  Another resident Emmanuel Boujenan told AFP that the man had been 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 explained.