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Tuesday 20 March 2012

Trail Of Shootings Linked By French Police

Three shootings in nine days have left seven people dead and two seriously injured in the south of France. Here are more details on the attacks, which police believe are linked.
:: March 19 - A teacher and three children were murdered when a lone gunman on a scooter, seen with a video camera attached to his body, opened fire as children were being dropped off at Ozar Hatorah Jewish school in northeast Toulouse.
The attack began at about 8am. Religious education teacher Rabbi Jonathan Sandler, 30, who taught at the school, was killed along with his two sons - three-year-old Gabriel and six-year-old Arieh - who were pupils at the nearby Gan Rachi school.
Miriam Monsonego, believed to be aged eight, was the daughter of the school's headteacher Rabbi Yaacov Monsonego and died in her father's arms as medics tried to resuscitate her.
A fifth victim, a 17-year-old student, was seriously injured.
One distraught father described the scene as a "vision of horror" as he searched for his son amid the chaos. "I saw two people dead in front of the school, as adult and a child... inside it was a vision of horror, the bodies of two small children."
Another eyewitness said: "He came on his motorbike, got off and shot a bullet in the air... then he got out another gun and started shooting at everyone, at the children. He chased us into the school."
:: March 15 - A gunman riding a motorcycle shot three French paratroopers in uniform as they queued at a cash machine at a small shopping centre close to their barracks in the southwestern town of Montauban, 30 miles away from Toulouse.
Two of the soldiers, both in the 17th Airborne Combat Engineering Regiment and of North African origin, died on the spot.
Abel Chennouf is reported to have toured in Afghanistan between August and December 2008. The 24-year-old was about to become a father.
Private Mohamed Legouad, aged 26, who had served in French operations in Africa, was also killed.
A third victim, Corporal Loic Liber, 28, of Caribbean origin, was critically wounded and remains in a coma.
Some 46 surveillance cameras are reported to have picked up the gunman on his scooter. 
CCTV footage includes the actual shooting itself.
Witnesses described how the killer turned over one of the wounded men who was trying to crawl away and fired three more shots into him.
One described the killer as "of average height and quite fat" and also spotted what she said appeared to be a tattoo or a scar on his face.
:: March 11 - Imad Ibn-Ziaten, a 30-year-old staff sergeant, was shot dead behind the Chateau de l'Hers school in a Toulouse street by a helmeted gunman on a motorcycle.
Also of North African origin, he was on his way to meet a prospective buyer for his motorcycle when he was shot in the head at point-blank range.
The soldier was found dead beside his motorcycle.
He is reported to have placed an advert on the resale website Le Bon Coin. It is believed his killer responded to his advert for the Suzuki bike, arranged a meeting and then murdered the paratrooper.
The victim was in the 1st Airborne Transportation Regiment, based in the southern French city.
Witnesses say he was standing in front of a gymnasium and was dressed in civilian clothing when he was killed.
According to La Depeche newspaper, he had identified himself as a soldier in the advert, but did not give his name.

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