Gunman Likely Filmed French School Shooting

Surveillance video shows a camera around the shooter's neck
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 20, 2012 6:29 AM CDT
Gunman Likely Filmed French School Shooting
Teenagers react and comfort each other after a ceremony at the Grand Synagogue in Toulouse, southwestern France, on Monday March 19, 2012.   (AP Photo/Manuel Blondeau)

As if there could be a crueler twist to the Jewish school shooting in Toulouse that yesterday rocked France: France's interior minister today revealed that the gunman likely filmed the killings. The school's surveillance video revealed that a video camera was attached to the killer's neck, reports Reuters. "This adds another element to the profile of the killer. It is someone who is cruel enough to record it," says Claude Gueant, "someone who is very cold, very determined, with precise gestures, and therefore very cruel."

A 200-strong group of police officers is hunting the killer, who is also suspected in the deaths of three paratroopers who were gunned down in Toulouse and Montauban last week. Police believe the perpetrator many have been trained as a marksman, and used a Yamaha scooter to flee the scenes. And while there's no indication that Jews are in danger outside of Southern France, the Department of Homeland Security told CNN that US officials are keeping an eye on the situation and on the possibility that Jews could be targeted stateside. The NYPD has beefed up security at synagogues and potential targets in the city. (More France stories.)

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