Southern France on High Alert After School Shooting - East Idaho News
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Southern France on High Alert After School Shooting

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GETTY W 031912 FranceJewishSchool?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1332236966970ERIC CABANIS/AFP/Getty Images(TOULOUSE, France) — Monday’s shooting deaths of three children and a rabbi in front of a Jewish school in Toulouse, France, was a continuation of a pattern of violence that compelled President Nicolas Sarkozy to raise the terrorism level in the region to its highest level.

Before the school shooting, which Sarkozy called the deadliest in France’s history, three paratroopers were gunned down in two separate incidents last week in the Toulouse area.

It’s believed the same shooter, who got away Monday, was involved in all the incidents.  There also seems to be an ethnic component to the attacks.

Two of the children who were killed were the sons of the slain rabbi, while a 10-year-old girl, who was the daughter of the Ozar Hatorah school’s director, was also shot dead.

Sarkozy said that until the suspect is apprehended or killed, 14 riot police units “will secure the region.”  The terror alert level will remain at scarlet, the highest on the color scale.

In another development, French Interior Minister Claude Gueant said Tuesday that witnesses recall seeing a small camera around the alleged gunman’s neck, with speculation that he might have been filming the shootings. 

Gueant admitted authorities have “no clear leads” regarding the shooter’s identity or where he might be now.

Meanwhile, police presence at Jewish communities and synagogues in New York and other U.S. cities was beefed up,  even though no direct threats have been made.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

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