A 69-year-old white French gunman who opened fire at a Kurdish cultural centre in Paris, killing three people told investigators he was racist, according to a source close to the case. 

Key points:

• The gunman had used an older model US army pistol in the attack
• The 69-year-old shooter had a history of racially motivated violence and weapons offences
• He was charged last year after attacking a migrant encampment with a sword

The shots at the centre and a nearby hairdressing salon shortly before midday on Friday caused panic in the bustling 10th district of the French capital, home to several shops and restaurants and a large Kurdish population.

Three others were wounded in the attack that the gunman attributed to his being "racist", the source said.

He was found with a case loaded with a box of at least 25 cartridges and "two or three loaded magazines", the source added.

The weapon was a "much-used" US Army Colt 1911 pistol.

On Saturday morning, the Paris prosecutor extended the gunman's period of detention for 24 hours and gave an extra charge of acting with a "racist motive".

He is already being held on suspicion of murder, attempted murder, armed violence and violating weapons legislation.

The gunman, who has a history of racist violence, initially targeted the Kurdish cultural centre, before entering a hairdressing salon where he was arrested.

Of the three wounded people, one was being given intensive care in hospital and two were treated for serious injuries.

According to the Kurdish Democratic Council in France, the dead included one woman and two men. 

A history of violence 

The shooter  — named as William M in the French media — is a gun enthusiast with a history of weapons offences who had been released on bail earlier this month. 

The retired train driver was convicted for armed violence in 2016 by a court in the multicultural Seine-Saint-Denis suburb of Paris, but appealed.

A year later, he was convicted for illegally possessing a firearm.

Last year, he was charged with racist violence after allegedly stabbing migrants and slashing their tents with a sword in a park in eastern Paris.

"He is crazy, he's an idiot," his father was quoted as saying by the M6 television channel.

Often described as the world's largest people without a state, the Kurds are a Muslim ethnic group spread across Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Iran.