Toulouse FRANCE - After a long and dramatic stand off, the gunman responsible for shooting seven people in separate attacks has been shot dead by police in Croix-Daurade district.
During the siege, Mohammed Merah had been holed up in his flat for 32 hours and has been communicating with French police through his door. Yesterday the 24-year-old Frenchman of Algerian origin threw a pistol from the window of the house in exchange for a "communication device".
According to French news reports, Merah had declared he was a "mujahideen" with links to al Qaeda who wanted to avenge the deaths of Palestinian children in Israel.
French Interior Minister Claude Gueant said "The French police had never seen anything like this. Merah jumped out of a window continuing to shoot. He was found dead on the ground. We were able to remove him and the dangers he posed to the people of Toulouse".
On March 11, a 30-year-old non-commissioned officer of North African descent was shot at point blank range in Montauban by a man using a 9mm weapon.
On March 15 two more soldiers of African descent were killed and another wounded near their barracks in Montauban. On both occasions the gunman fled on a scooter.
The deaths were quickly linked to the shootings of a Jewish Rabbi and three children at the Ozar Hatorah school in Toulouse earlier in the week.
Gueant told reporters "the wanted individual shot at the door", injuring two police officers. The officers were not seriously injured.
He described how the gunman's mother was brought to the scene of the siege to help negotiations but this proved unhelpful. Merah's mother and brother have now been arrested and the shooter has stopped talking to police, according to reports.
Merah, known to French intelligence services, has made trips to Afghanistan and Pakistan in the past and has links with people involved in jihadism.
During the siege, Mohammed Merah had been holed up in his flat for 32 hours and has been communicating with French police through his door. Yesterday the 24-year-old Frenchman of Algerian origin threw a pistol from the window of the house in exchange for a "communication device".
According to French news reports, Merah had declared he was a "mujahideen" with links to al Qaeda who wanted to avenge the deaths of Palestinian children in Israel.
French Interior Minister Claude Gueant said "The French police had never seen anything like this. Merah jumped out of a window continuing to shoot. He was found dead on the ground. We were able to remove him and the dangers he posed to the people of Toulouse".
On March 11, a 30-year-old non-commissioned officer of North African descent was shot at point blank range in Montauban by a man using a 9mm weapon.
On March 15 two more soldiers of African descent were killed and another wounded near their barracks in Montauban. On both occasions the gunman fled on a scooter.
The deaths were quickly linked to the shootings of a Jewish Rabbi and three children at the Ozar Hatorah school in Toulouse earlier in the week.
Gueant told reporters "the wanted individual shot at the door", injuring two police officers. The officers were not seriously injured.
He described how the gunman's mother was brought to the scene of the siege to help negotiations but this proved unhelpful. Merah's mother and brother have now been arrested and the shooter has stopped talking to police, according to reports.
Merah, known to French intelligence services, has made trips to Afghanistan and Pakistan in the past and has links with people involved in jihadism.
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