Paris: A gunman, who targeted a Kurdish cultural centre, killed at least three people and wounded three others in French capital Paris on Friday, media reports said.

A possible racist motive is being investigated, reports BBC.

Police have detained the 69-year-old suspect.

According to reports, he was released from prison recently.

Clashes later broke out between police and a group who had gathered at the scene in the aftermath of the attack, BBC reported.

One of the injured persons is said to be in critical condition.

There is no confirmed motive for the shooting, but Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said the suspect had previously been charged with racist violence, the British media reported.

"We were walking in the street and heard gunshots," a witness, Ali Dalek, told the BBC. "We turned around and saw people running left and right.

"And then, five or six minutes later, because we know people who work at the hair salon, we went in and we saw that they had arrested a guy," the witness said.