(Newser)
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Police in Toulouse have surrounded the home of a suspect they believe is responsible for a series of deadly shootings. Three police officers have been injured in a shootout with the suspect, a 24-year-old man who claims to be a member of al-Qaeda, reports Reuters. France's interior minister says the suspect, whose alleged victims include soldiers, a rabbi, and three Jewish children, describes himself as a mujahideen out to avenge Palestinian children. The man's brother is being questioned by police.
The suspect "also wanted to take revenge on the French army because of its foreign interventions," the interior minister says. French President Nicolas Sarkozy earlier branded the killer a "monster," and vowed to bring him to justice. "There are beings who have no respect for life," he said. "When you grab a little girl to put a bullet in her head, without leaving her any chance, you are a monster."
