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Gun at French School Linked to Earlier Shootings

Officials think same gun used in tragedy as 2 other shootings last week

By Mark Russell,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 19, 2012 5:03 AM CDT | Updated Mar 19, 2012 11:29 AM CDT

(Newser) – At least three children and one adult were shot dead this morning, and five more people were injured, when a man on a black scooter opened fire near a Jewish school in Toulouse, France, reports the Telegraph. The shooting appears to be connected to two similar shootings in the same area last week, when three French soldiers were killed and two injured by a man on a motorcycle. All those attacks used 11.43-caliber bullets, according to the AP, and a judicial source tells Sky News that the same gun was used.

The gunman opened fire on a spot where children are picked up for school, and the city is on "lockdown" as police hunt for the shooter, who escaped on the scooter. “This is a medieval city with narrow winding roads, where it is easy for a scooter to outrun a police car,” said one observer. Given the background of the soldiers who were attacked, the gunman appears to be targeting ethnic minorities, said a local journalist. French President Nicolas Sarkozy condemned the attack, and the interior minister ordered security be tightened at all French Jewish schools.

Policemen are at work near the 'Ozar Hatorah' Jewish school, on March 19, 2012 in Toulouse, southwestern France, where four people (three of them children), were killed and two seriously wounded when a gunman opened fire.  This is the third gun attack in a week by a man who fled...
Policemen are at work near the 'Ozar Hatorah' Jewish school, on March 19, 2012 in Toulouse, southwestern France, where four people (three of them children), were killed and two seriously wounded when...   (Getty Images)
Police officers gather at the site of a shooting in Toulouse, southwestern France, Monday, March 19, 2012. A shooter opened fire in front of a Jewish school killing a number of people, the Toulouse prosecutor said Monday.
Police officers gather at the site of a shooting in Toulouse, southwestern France, Monday, March 19, 2012. A shooter opened fire in front of a Jewish school killing a number of people, the Toulouse prosecutor...   (AP Photo/Bruno Martin)
Policemen are at work near the 'Ozar Hatorah' Jewish school, on March 19, 2012 in Toulouse, southwestern France, where four people (three of them children), were killed and two seriously wounded when a gunman opened fire.  This is the third gun attack in a week by a man who fled...
Policemen are at work near the 'Ozar Hatorah' Jewish school, on March 19, 2012 in Toulouse, southwestern France, where four people (three of them children), were killed and two seriously wounded when...   (Getty Images)
Policemen are at work near the 'Ozar Hatorah' Jewish school, on March 19, 2012 in Toulouse, southwestern France, where four people (three of them children), were killed and two seriously wounded when a gunman opened fire.
Policemen are at work near the 'Ozar Hatorah' Jewish school, on March 19, 2012 in Toulouse, southwestern France, where four people (three of them children), were killed and two seriously wounded when...   (Getty Images)
Policemen are at work near the 'Ozar Hatorah' Jewish school, on March 19, 2012 in Toulouse, southwestern France, where four people (three of them children), were killed and two seriously wounded when a gunman opened fire.  This is the third gun attack in a week by a man who fled...
Policemen are at work near the 'Ozar Hatorah' Jewish school, on March 19, 2012 in Toulouse, southwestern France, where four people (three of them children), were killed and two seriously wounded when...   (Getty Images)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 17 comments
nzuckerman
Mar 19, 2012 7:17 AM CDT
the anti-religious, anti this or that comments here are plain dumb. France above all nations makes sure that its citizens are FRENCH, secular. But they also allow for early religious teaching...these are not schools that kids attend through all years of schooling. And even if they were, such as our parochial schools, so what? If schools meet national educational standards that is what matters Andthese kids are targeted because they are Jewish. There has been no need nor ever was in France to protect children or adults in Christian places. Note attacks in S. Am against Jewish places too...
anothernewsjunkie
Mar 19, 2012 6:57 AM CDT
America_Firster must be overjoyed.
Rammrodd
Mar 19, 2012 5:59 AM CDT
Hmmm,,,possibly connected to the continuing unresolved conflict in the Near East; or a form of protest against French meddling abroad. Bit of derring-do, either way.
 

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