France: Hunted Gunman 'May Strike Again'

The gunman who killed three children and a rabbi at a Jewish school was apparently filming his attack and is a "determined individual" who could kill again, according to a French prosecutor.

More than 100 police officers are hunting for the killer, who was seen recording with a small camera as he shot his victims at the Ozar Hatorah school in Toulouse.

Detectives have been scouring the internet for possible images from the killer.

"We are up against an extremely determined individual, who knows he's being hunted, who could strike again," Paris prosecutor Francois Molins told a news conference.

He added that the victims had been shot at point-blank range.

"No leads have been ruled out at this point...None will be neglected or abandoned until the author of these crimes is arrested," he said.

Police are now convinced that the attacks are linked to two separate shootings over the past 10 days in the region.

The same large-calibre weapon and the same stolen Yamaha scooter were used in all three incidents.

The man who died on Monday has been named as religious education teacher Jonathan Sandler, an Israeli-French dual citizen originally from Jerusalem who moved to France last September.

His two sons - Gavriel, three, and Arieh, six - and Miriam Monsonego, believed to be eight, thought to be the daughter of the school's headteacher, were also killed.

A 17-year-old boy was also seriously injured by the gunman, who was dressed in black leather and wearing a helmet.

The bodies of those killed are being repatriated to Israel where they will be buried and funerals will be held on Wednesday.

Schools throughout France observed a minute's silence on Tuesday and French president Nicolas Sarkozy led the tributes from a school in Paris.

"Anti-Semitism is obvious. The Jewish school attack was an anti-Semitic crime," Sarkozy told reporters after meeting children.

"When you grab a little girl to put a bullet in her head, without leaving her any chance, you're a monster. An anti-Semitic monster, but first of all a monster," Mr Sarkozy said.

In an attack last Thursday , a gunman on a scooter shot three soldiers at a cashpoint outside their barracks in Montauban, 30 miles north of Toulouse.

Two members of the 17th Airborne Combat Engineering Regiment, Corporal Abel Chennouf, 24, and Private Mohammed Legouad, 26, were killed. Both were of North African origin.

A third paratrooper, 28-year-old Corporal Loic Liber, of Caribbean origin, was left in a coma.

Mr Sarkozy added: "But the soldiers? Was it because they were back from Afghanistan? Was it because they were from minorities? We don't know," he said. "We must be very cautious until we have arrested someone."

Witnesses said the man on the scooter walked up to the men, who were in uniform but unarmed, and opened fire at point-blank range.

He apparently had time to turn over one of the wounded men who was trying to crawl away and fire three more shots before fleeing on the scooter.

Four days earlier, on March 11, Staff Sergeant Imad Ibn-Ziaten, 30, was shot dead next to a school in a quiet district of Toulouse. He too was of North African descent.

Detectives are reportedly investigating the possibility that far-right terrorists may be behind the the seven killings.

Although the potential motive remains unclear, some media reports in France suggest that one part of the investigation was focused on a group of at least three former soldiers said to have neo-Nazi links.

Two of the men quit and one resigned after pictures emerged of them posing in front of a flag bearing the swastika, according to reports.

Reports suggest they have been cleared of any involvement.

Mr Sarkozy has ordered the terror alert in the southwestern region to be raised to the highest level.

Mr Sarkozy said he was "sure" the same gunman was behind the three attacks and that it was "obvious" Monday's event was anti-Semitic.

He has suspended his re-election campaign until at least Wednesday.

There were prayers on Monday night at Toulouse's main synagogue and at the cathedral in the city.

In Paris, several thousand people staged a silent march holding banners and waving Jewish flags.

Some lit candles at the Bastille monument in Paris.

Jewish and Muslim community leaders are to organise a silent march in Paris on Sunday in memory of victims from both communities.