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Subscribe to RSSSchools throughout France held a moment of silence in memory of the four killed in the Toulouse school shooting. Meanwhile, French police have launched a massive manhunt for the killer. ITN's Martin Geissler reports.
TOULOUSE, France -- A prosecutor said that all seven victims of a recent spate of shootings in southwest France -- three soldiers and four at a Jewish school -- were killed with bullets to the head, shot at such close range that the gunfire burned the skin.
All three attacks were carried out by a man on a powerful motorcycle who was wearing a helmet and carrying a Colt 45, Prosecutor Francois Molins told reporters in Paris. But he said other clues to the killer's identify were scarce.
"We are confronted with an individual extremely determined in his actions, an armed individual who acts always with the same modus operandi," Molins said, "in cold blood ... with premeditated actions."
Molins also noted that the attacks had occurred every four days, but said he could not address security arrangements that might be inplace Friday -- the fourth day after the attack on the Jewish school.
The prosecutor also downplayed an earlier report by Interior Minister Claude Gueant that the shooter had a camera around his neck and could have been filming the attack, saying it was still only a hypothesis.
Earlier, Gueant had said the attacker was "wearing around his neck an apparatus" that could be used to film and post video online. He said that gave investigators new clues to the killer's "profile," though he admitted that they don't appear to close to an arrest.
Philippe Desmazes/AFP/Getty Images
People cry and react before the funeral convoy carrying the coffins leaves the Ozar Hatorah Jewish school after a funeral ceremony, Tuesday.
'Very cold'
Gueant described the suspect as "someone very cold, very determined, very much a master of his movements, and by consequence, very cruel."
Asked whether the gunman recorded the scene Monday morning, Gueant responded, "We can imagine that." But he added that authorities have not yet found any images of the killings online.
Meanwhile, hundreds of police combed southern France for the killer -- also suspected of shooting dead three French soldiers -- and NBC News reported that local police were to be issued with guns temporarily. Normally only national police carry weapons.
French schools held a minute's silence at 11 a.m. local time (6 a.m. ET) to remember the victims. Every school in the Toulouse region was also under guard Tuesday.
BBC News also reported that France had declared its top "scarlet" terror alert level for the first time.
Miriam, 8, chased down, killed
The victims at the Ozar Hatorah school were 30-year old Hebrew teacher Jonathan Sandler, his two children, Arye, 6, and Gabriel, 3; and Miriam Monsonego, 8, the daughter of the school principal, Toulouse prosecutor Michel Valet said.
The gunman chased Miriam into the concrete courtyard, stopping her by her hair, The New York Times reported. His gun jammed, but still holding her, he switched weapons and shot her in the head.
President Nicolas Sarkozy said the killings at the school and those of the soldiers, one of Caribbean and two of Muslim origin, appeared to be motivated by racism.
"In attacking Jewish teachers and children, there seems to be an obvious anti-Semitic motivation," he said late on Monday. "With the soldiers ... one can imagine that the bloodthirsty madness was linked to racism."
Manhunt for 'most wanted man in France'
Sarkozy was to meet with members of France's Jewish and Muslim community. France has the largest population of Jews and Muslims in western Europe.
Police had not named a suspect but said they were searching the city of around one million for a man they believed could be a trained marksman.
Neo-Nazi ex-soldier
Police were looking into the possibility that the gunman could be one of three soldiers dismissed from the army in 2008 for neo-Nazi activities, French magazine Le Point reported.
NBC News reported that the black scooter used by the gunman at the school had been traced to a theft on March 6 and that video surveillance cameras at the school had picked up the license plate number.
Hadrei Haredim via Getty Images
Jonathan Sandler, (second from left) his two children, Arye, 6, (left) and Gabriel, 3, (second from right) are pictured in this undated handout image. All three were killed in Monday's shooting at a Jewish school in Toulouse, France.
It was the most deadly anti-Semitic attack on French soil in nearly 30 years. In August, 1982, six people were killed in a combined grenade and gun attack at the Goldenberg restaurant in Paris' Marais Jewish district.
As night fell Monday, students of the Ozar Hatorah Hebrew school gathered with the bodies of the victims for an all-night vigil.
Windows were shuttered at the school, a five-floor brick building in a leafy residential neighborhood. The wall near the front gate bore bullet marks, and one window was shattered.
The Associated Press, NBC News and Reuters contributed to this report.
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Leave a Comment:
Afghanistan?? They kill anyone there... They don't care, they don't understand, there is no understanding.
Furthermore, simply because some neo-Nazi-ish Caucasian might pop up every year or so and kill some people, does not negate the fact that Islam/Muslims are the biggest blood lust murdering zombies on the planet currently, slaughtering their own and others incessantly for 1,400 years.
Nazi's... Good choice you stupid PIG! Take away freedom, take away liberty, take away understanding.... You have a Nazi, someone who doesn't care, doesn't give a flying F**k and doesn't want to know who they're killing half the time.. Nazi's SUCK! Take it up the ass you punk!
Swine!! Pray Hard, Nazi Bastard!!! Because your bald ass is about to get eaten whole!
There is no reason anymore just killing. No conscious no morals just hate lovely world.
Sort of like the white house watching the bin Laden murder on TV.
My condolences to the families of the victims and to the community of Toulouse.
May God pour out a spirit of comfort and healing and may whoever is responsible be brought to justice.
Yes, let us pray but also we must commit to being the change we wish to see in the world.
If there's going to be any peace at all, let it begin with me.
Peace and God's blessings to all this day.
My first thoughts were not racism. The casualties spell something out I feel. The principal and his children and a child of an instructor. The way he chased the girl down. These were his intended targets. I certainly hope they are looking for an old staff member, student or parent of student. Plus if he was filming it? Maybe he intended on showing it to the people who would be hurt the most by it.
What, MSNBC?
No more coverage of the Syrian Crisis? Not more "crying" for those poor Opposition Forces who, according to Human Rights Watch, are kidnapping and executing people for political purposes?
No more hysterical "support" for a bunch of Terrorists or lambasting the Assad Regime as "collapsing soon!"
Not a peep about the Russian Anti-Terrorism Squad deployed to Syria to stop those poor Opposition Forces that are -terrorizing- Syria? No more hysterical cries from Clinton and the rest of our "clowns" we call politicians to invade and "save" everyone at gun-point and bombs?
What wonderful news coverage, MSNBC! I cannot wait to see your Print Version that can be purchased at the Check Out Line of local super markets.
A national media that is obsessed with hiding or obscuring the reality of what is happening in the world with trite, meaningless dribble certainly isn't a symptom of a Nation desperately clinging to order or power.
A nation that resorts to militarization of the police, nullification of civil rights, and silencing the press certainly is not displaying the symptoms of something gone horrifically wrong with our country at all.
All the wealth that our bankers, politicians, and military commanders have collected will certainly be worth something when all our natural resources run out in about 25 years, right? And all those "rare earth metals" that are about to be cut-off from the US aren't important, right?
Because we aren't able to endlessly print -resources,- MSNBC.
But you guys are certainly on track and are doing a bang up job of leading this countries people into a bright and prosperous future, aren't you?
Maybe if the French police investigated the shooting of the three soldiers more aggressively the Ozar Hatorah school shooting could have been avoided. I don't think it is a radical muslim who is the shooter because they usually brag about their assassinations the next day. Neo-Nazis and radical islam should join forces though since they seem to have similar evil agendas.
Well, Sarkozy was going around campaigning to the right disparaging immigrants... so much for his electioneering.
you guys are idiots if you blame this on Muslims, nazis kill jews not muslims. Muslims dont go around filming their killing. I hope they catch him, killing innocent children is just wrong.
Yeah, cutting the heads off hostages and posting the films online was all a fake, done in an editing program. Those pesky muslims have SUCH a sense of humor!
How's the opium over there, Achmed?
While I support you wish that they catch the bastard that killed those 7 people, 4 at the school and 3 solders earlier, I have to point out that Islamic terrorist do in fact film their mirders. There are a lot of videos out there of them beheading and shooting prisoners. There are also videos, made by acomplices, of suicide bombings.
I guess this moron NEVER HEARD OF YASSUR ARAFART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PTHTHTHTH!!!!!!!!!!
Although I think this report of the killer having a camera around his neck is B.S., to say...
is even greater B.S. There are innumerable videos of jihadists shouting ALLAH IS GREAT!! at the top of their lungs as roadside bombs explode and the like. And of course those vile beheading videos too, as Klone mentioned.
It's so sad to see that there is so much hate & intolerance in the world. What difference does religion, ethnicity, or nationality make, we're all human. For pete's sake, stop preaching & spreading hate & stop blaming others for your own failures, it's pathetic.
My heart goes out to the teacher's, the children's & the soldiers' families. (Whatever their religion, ethncity or nationality.) May they be able to eventually get justice & find peace.
OH, and the collection of information with Petraeus's "Super Spie" Center.
That's such a great idea. Except it's not.
Want to know why, MSNBC? Two reasons.
1.) The more our country obsesses over collecting data from its people through appliances, the more people are going to start Retro-Grading to Older Appliances and Abandoning the New Technology because Americans inherently Do Not Like Being Spied On. But our All-Knowing Spy Agencies don't seem to grasp that. Our country is relying too much on Technology and not enough on Common Human Sense or Logic.
2.) Even if the appliances are able to "collect" data, the data requires a human to process and disseminate the data - meaning thousands of analysts will have to sift through several metric tons of data. You aren't making it easier to find a needle in the hay stack - you are effectively making the Hay Stack only bigger. Finally - the more the NSA, CIA, and FBI obsesses over spying on people - THE MORE PEOPLE ARE GOING TO START SIMPLY LEARNING TO BLEND IN WITH EVERYONE ELSE TO AVOID BEING SPIED ON.
ANY ATTEMPT TO FIND A "TERRORIST" WILL BE RENDERED USELESS BECAUSE OUR AGENCIES ARE SIMPLY TRAINING REAL "TERRORISTS" TO BLEND IN WITH EVERYONE ELSE.
You are UNDERMINING yourself - but are blinded by "profit" and your "friends in high places" to see that.
If you don't believe me, you morons, FIND OUT HOW MANY PEOPLE DELIBERATELY STOP UPGRADING THEIR OS or simply RETROGRADE to an older operating system to avoid the hideous mess that is the "new technology."
Just because something is "advanced" DOES NOT mea it is USEFUL.
Just because you can do something "faster" DOES NOT mean it's necessarily good.
These terms are -purely- subjective and used, primarily, to SELL something to contractors are meetings and demonstrations. None of it has actually been TESTED outside of -laboratory- conditions. Additionally, -none- of the long term effects are known or comprehended by any -sane- person in the government or intelligence community.
10 years from now, your "achievements" are going to be the very things that undo or undermine our government and our country because you morons don't seem to get that other countries are -watching- us and are learning to -counter- everything we do.
Just look at the escalation of IEDs and other "toys" the enemy has developed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Every time we have learned to counter a method of explosive, the enemy simply makes a more complex and deadly weapon - at a fraction of the cost that our R&D departments took to -counter- the original threat.
Please do not assume I am a "terrorist."
I am trying to tell you guys that you seem to have been drinking the "Kool Aid" a little too much.
China and Russia are just waiting for us to fall on our faces. They don't -need- to do anything - because we're -doing- it to ourselves.
Any attempt to "co-op" the American people is going to fall flat on it's face. There's no -way- it can work. Just "look" at how successful we have been in doing that in other countries. No matter how you spin it - or how you "train" the MSM to tell it - our missions have -failed- utterly.
IMAGINE what it would be like trying to pull that off on your Home Turf.
I would wager that it would be a nightmare. It am "betting" that you and all your buddies know that it isn't logistically, technically, or for the purpose of simple sanity, not possible.
Your agencies are too blind and arrogant to admit when something has gone wrong and to appropriately take corrective measure. "Just keep a stiff upper lip and STAY THE COURSE" is not going to make "everything better."
It's like an ostrich ramming it's head into the ground.
You are going to eventually run out of resources. You can't "print" resources.
You are going to eventually alienate all your friends and allies - the ones who could help and prevent this country from spiraling into the abyss. But you are too busy convincing yourselves that you are surrounding by "terrorists" and BEING terrorists yourselves - which will EFFECTIVELY -isolate- the US from the world.
"Globalization" isn't working - it's actually dividing the world more than joining it. Countries are developing their own networks - and starting to reject the American Dollar. And they aren't doing it because they "hate our freedom" or are "jealous." They are doing it because they SMELL a loser - because they know that they do not want to drink the same "Kool Aid" that we've been drinking.
I would highly advise that you people very quickly find out what the root causes of THOSE problems are and FIX them. One way or another - because otherwise WE - Rich, Middle Class, Poor, Elite, Doctor, Lawyer, Hobo, Engineer, Professor, Everyone - are ALL royally boned in approximately 25 years.
this is so sad but very disturbing. my condolence to all involved.
Where are the vermin bigots who were accusing Muslims for the attacks?? Its more likely that the scum gunman is a WHITE COWARD.
This is absolutely exspected and more. Think or even say that what has been occuring in the middle east for so many years and without reason only now has just happened. Karma like sunshine occurs when you were'nt exspecting a tan
France was never Muslim or Jewish friendly. But has the largest population of both in entire Europe. Jews will always be a target in this world. People fear what they don't understand. Integration is a very dirty word. What you people know about it? I am an American Citizen, but came here from another country, I am not afraid to be Jewish I am proud of my culture and religion. What happened in Toulouse - France can happen anywhere in the world, there are Neo - Nazis everywhere. A shame that younger generations can't realize the changes in their own countries and blame other religions for their own miseries, if wasn't for the Americans during World War II France would be speaking German today. I feel for the innocent children who have to loose their lives to this Evil. Shame , Shame..
If these murders were filmed would it be a stretch to surmise it was a terrorist planned event (given all the beheadings and OTHER Al Qaeda butchery we've seen in the media)? It will likely surface as a recruiting trailer or a training film for future incidents. France better NOT miss this one or else they will see a firestorm in the future of even MORE events. I think I remember the idea that they are going for many smaller events instead of another cataclysmic event like the twin towers and garnering the same effect. Hang-on world.
Incorrect.
Judging from the evidence provided - such as the traditional usage of a motor cycle, which is trademark of government-sponsored assassination - it was probably carried out to cow the people and the security forces into a state of fear.
The assassin(s) motive come into question:
The assassin(s) targeted low-value individuals of no political and government importance but inciting a large emotional response - children. The French government didn't suffer any explicit or sever damage or costs. A real terrorist would have gotten the most "bang" for his "buck."
This has "False Flag" written all over it.
The End Result: Paranoia, Beefed Up Security, probably more defense contracts to 'enhance security.'
Funny how that happens.
Most governments of the world already know this. It's a "derp" event and another embarrassing cascade of demonstrations of how utterly un-selfaware and sick our "intelligence" agencies have become.
Basically, in all reality, this is an act of desperation to incite fear - by murdering innocence.
"They eat each-other" is a good way to describe "Business As Usual" for the West.
Nothing bad could possibly come of this.
My prayers go out to the family's of the people shot.
How many Palestinian children did the IDF murder in Gaza today? I guess the media doesn't care to report on that though.
answer: none. the IDF goes out of its way to avoid civilian casualties, even putting its own soldiers at greater risk to protect the innocent. Hamas, on the other hand, intentionally puts Palestian children in harms way - by shooting rockets from schools for instance, in order to try to generate sympathy.
Send ever last one of us (ALL) back to our home lands regardless of the buts. So no ands ,ifs or... And then SEE. Ha, If we don't re think @!$%#. Well then we can have good reason to kill another with a full all out war set in agreement by nato vote , every country participating, this should settle everything once and final.
It is such a sad and treeible thing to lose a chid to violence. Being from Jonesboro , Arkansas, The infamous howe to the Westside Shootings, Where 4 children were slain along with a teacher. Near Jonesboro is the city of West Memphis, Arkansas, Where 3 children were brutally murdered. None of the people who committed these crimes is or ever will be punished in this life. Their punishment will not come until judgement day in the hereafter.
This may likely be the case here with this brutal sadistic murderer. IF he is captured, he will be a defendant in TH most Liberal court in the world. His punishment will only be minimal to American standards. There is no such thing as " Life Imprisonment " in France.
In France Prisoners are frequently taken for strolls outside of the prison and on shopping trips to the city.
There was a Terrorist that was sentenced to " Life " there that while on one of those outside " Strolls " just walked away and escaped. He was from Syria. I am sure he has made his way back home and is now happily causing terror again on Christians and Jews.
This is so sad because the French invented the Gillotine. They USED it and they used to punish murderers with DEATH by Gillotine.
Statistics show that if a prisoner is treated with an ounce of humility or human kindness, they are less likely to repeat their criminal deeds and it is possible to reform them.
Using "brutal punishments" only serves to create more determined, blood-thirsty criminals.
But you know - kill everyone, stuff them in prisons. Great idea.
Scientific Evidence? What's that?
If the French weren't such a bunch of liberal fruitcakes, this would never have happened. I hope our idiot politicians take note.
You're right. They should be just like America - shoot everyone, smash the skulls of anyone who dissents, fill their prisons to capacity, eliminate civil rights, bomb everyone.
Great idea.
What?
All extremists are dangerous people. They will stand by you as long as they think that you think like they do, as soon as they see you don't you become their enemy.