(ADDS CONFIRMATION MINISTER, MORE DETAILS)
By BosNewsLife News Service
TOULOUSE, FRANCE (BosNewsLife)– The man held responsible for killing a rabbi and three young children at a Jewish school in France and three French paratroopers has died after jumping from a window while “shooting” at police, French authorities confirmed Thursday, March 22.
Mohammed Merah, 24, “came out of the bathroom shooting madly at everybody” raiding the building said French Interior Minister Claude Gueant.
He told reporters that the incident happened when police entered the apartment in the southern city of Toulouse,Thursday, March 22, after hearing nothing overnight.
“At the end, Mohammed Merah jumped out of the window with a weapon in his hand, continuing to shoot. He was found dead on the ground,” said Gueant.
TERROR SPREE
Merah had boasted of bringing France “to its knees” as a supporter of terror group al Qaeda. He said the group prepared a terror spree and was saddened that he could only kill seven people, before taking refuge in the surrounded apartment for a 32 hour standoff.
The death of Mohamed Merah, 24, was initially announced on police radio shortly after a 5-minute volley of gunfire, said Didier Martinez of the Unite SGP police union.
It came as a setback for Gueant who earlier said he wanted him alive. “We hope that he is still alive,” Gueant stressed, apparently also to receive more information about a possible terror plot in France.
The minister acknowledged however that the gunman told negotiators that he wanted to “die with weapons in his hands.”
FUNERALS HELD
His death came as little comfort for those attending funerals. On Wednesday, March 21, funerals took place in Israel for four victims of Monday’s Toulouse school shooting amid mounting concerns over antisemitism and perceived growing hatred towards the Jewish state.
Eva Sandler lost a husband and two children in the shooting, who have been mourned across Israel.
The brother of the fourth victim, seven-year-old Myriam Monsenego asked God to give his family strength in a televised ceremony. Over 400 people reportedly gathered at the cemetery in Jerusalem for a service held in accordance with Orthodox tradition.
Among those attending was French Foreign Minister Alan Juppe. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told him: “We must fight this extraordinary propaganda against Israel, against Jews everywhere, against innocents, which is driving these people to commit these acts of savagery. I think on all these we stand together.”
There is also sorrow over three French paratroopers who were killed last week.
