Suspect In Recent Shootings In Standoff With Police In Toulouse, Expected To Last Into Early Evening.
Police in Toulouse have surrounded the gunman suspected of killing three French soldiers last week and four people at a Jewish school on Monday in a cordoned off five-story building. The stand off started earlier this morning and is expected to last into early evening reports the Guardian.
The suspected gunman has been identified as 24 year old Mohamed Merah, a French citizen of Algerian origin and Muslim faith. According to authorities, Merah had claimed to received training from Al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Merah told police negotiators the shootings were in the name of Al Qaeda to avenge the deaths of Palestinian children and because of the French army’s involvement in Afghanistan.
Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins, part of the anti-terrorist unit leading the investigation, told a news conference:
“He has no regrets, except not having more time to kill more people and he boasts that he has brought France to its knees.”
Merah had made promises to surrender this evening to members of the elite RAID unit surrounding the house.
According to Molins:
“He has explained that he is not suicidal, that he does not have the soul of a martyr and that he prefers to kill but to stay alive himself.”
Merah had thrown a Colt 45 pistol of the kind used in all the shootings out one of the windows of the surrounded block in exchange for a mobile phone. He is, however, still armed with at least two machine guns.
At least two police officers have been injured in a fire fight with the holed up Merah after police began their surrounding of the gunman at 3 a.m. local time (0200 GMT).
Police conducted a controlled explosion of Merah’s car at around 9:00 a.m. (0800 GMT) after finding it was loaded with weapons. Both the suspect’s girlfriend and brother, known to be a radical Islamist, have been arrested by authorities.
Do you think Mohamed Merah will likely give up as promised or will this get worse before its finally resolved?
