French officials are under pressure to explain why Mohamed Merah, the Toulouse gunman whose murderous rampage came to a dramatic end on Thursday, was able to carry out three separate attacks despite having been flagged by intelligence.
Toulouse gunman Mohamed Merah was killed in a police assault on Thursday, but the dramatic events he triggered threaten to completely change the course of France's upcoming presidential election.
Mohamed Merah, the 23-year-old man who confessed to killing three French soldiers and four people at a Jewish school, died from a gunshot wound to the head Thursday after police stormed his home in Toulouse following a 32-hour stand-off.
Mohamed Merah, 23, who confessed to killing three French soldiers and four people at a Jewish school, died Thursday after police launched a dramatic assault on his home in Toulouse following a 32-hour stand-off. Review the events on FRANCE 24's blog.
Blasts and gunshots were heard overnight near a flat in Toulouse where the gunman accused of fatally shooting three French soldiers and four people at a Jewish school has been surrounded by police since 3am on Wednesday.
Alleged Toulouse gunman Mohamed Merah told police Wednesday that he had planned “more killings” after claiming responsibility for the deaths of three paratroopers and four Jews at a school, before police surrounded his home overnight.
A 24-year-old gunman, still holed up in his besieged Toulouse apartment, has admitted killing seven people in a recent spate of attacks in southwest France, according to Paris's top prosecutor. Follow events as they unfold on our live blog.
Police moved in before dawn on Wednesday to surround the home of the main suspect in the recent deaths of French soldiers and a deadly shooting spree at a Jewish school. France's interior minister says the suspect has claimed links with al Qaeda.
