They seem to have been looking at other possibilities thinking it was an attack on the army itself and not necessarily racial, then their was the question of the soldiers who were kicked out for their nazi leanings - that was one of the idea after the school killings and at that point it was pretty obviously race related too and very targeted, the scooter became an obvious lead, it's quite a rare one and very powerful, to stop it being stolen it's fitted with a location device. A toulouse dealer had been asked a whole load of questions by the killer before all this kicked off about how to disarm the locating device, if panels could be changed easily or not (he changed the colour of the scooter panels between the second and third attacks) and the dealer went to the police with this info, at the same time they were trying to track down all the ip addresses of people who had enquired (some 500 they said on the radio!) about the first soldier's motorbike - the rdv made to see it and he was shot. the ip address was for the killer's brother's computer and both brothers seem to have been moving around a lot. to answer your question they didn't state when the killer had gone to the dealer asking questions but I presume it was part of his preparation before carrying out the first killing. I don't think there's any doubt that the killer killed them all, he was boasting about it to police when cornered and detaled the gendarmes already identified who were to have been his next victimes. Not sure if I've made any more sense, so much has happened in such a short time and there have been so many theories too!
Just read Sheila's post - much better than mine - I haven't had a good search, I'm going on what they were reporting on the radio yesterday :-O
"Apparently he was before the French courts two weeks ago -- on driving charges --- he was let go???? "
Serious yes but you think they will lock everyone up for driving charges ? going to be lots of people in jail then , they couldn't predict what he was going to do , he was a nutter , i would think the time that he was cornered they managed to get more info on him and his supporters ,well done the team that got him !!
Visiting a Yamaha dealership where his name had been on computer files as a customer for about 10 years, he asked one of the staff whether it was possible to deactivate a GPS anti-theft tracking device fitted on the big urban bike, versions of which can retail new for about $10,000. Police now say they discovered that this scooter was actually stolen in May last year.
The mechanic said he told Merah, who appeared calm and normal, that the tracker could not be removed - and that during the conversation the young man casually mentioned that he had just repainted the bike white. It had previously been black.
A black scooter was, of course, being hunted after the killings of the soldiers. But there are thousands in Toulouse.
When, after the school massacre, detectives put out a description of a white scooter being ridden by a gunmen with the same modus operandi, garage owner Christian Dellacherie, suddenly put two and two together and called the police.
Hi Andrew
I'm not following this much because I'm at work. I don't quite understand when you say "it was only after the school killings and when the scooter dealer came forward saying that someone had been in asking all sorts of questions about the model of scooter he used that they made the link" Used for what? The killing of the soldiers? If that is the case and he went in asking then he didn't kill the soldiers right?
Can you enlighten me please?
fingers crossed for you Sheila ;-)
Yes indeed. Glad to hear OH is safe and sound, along with our SFN friends who live in Toulouse! Meeting with prospective landlord on 28th/29th March, so fingers crossed there. SFN friend who lives a few miles away coming on Saturday to see prospective vendor on our behalf of a lovely little house we spotted. She does a bit of buying and selling, so we'll find out if he's willing to negotiate or not (ad. says "non negociable"). Failing that, we still have the huge storage box in which we sent over TV and other stuff from Dublin. With a bit of work, it could look quite nice - a lick of paint, cut a little window in the side, bit of net curtain, locate beside the public toilets in the car-park. Sure, what more would you want!
Thanks Hayley, OH is safe and sound and they've all been following events very closely but they're the other side of Toulouse apparently.
Completely understand Sheila and hope you get French TV soon, it really is one of the keys to understanding the country, the way people think etc (apart from having a French oh!). I used to watch TV5 when I was a student, it's better than nothing but very watered down! Yes, not sure why they didn't just gas him/put him to sleep, I think they thought they could talk him round, it all went very well to begin with, the windows and shutters were to put pressure on him, the same as cutting off the water, electricity and gas and for safety reasons as any explosion is far less damaging if it isn't contained by windows and shutters. In the end it was far from easy with over 300 shots being fired - they're highly trained but at the end of the day, a determined nutter holed up in a flat with a load of guns isn't ever going to be easy to deal with!
What measures..., well Sarkosy has just given a live speech and the measures are pretty strong and new - any trips for radical training/indoctrination will be punished by law etc. On with the presidential campaign now...!
Thanks Andrew. At the moment, I don't have access to French TV here in the rental (hopefully that will change when we move next month). All I've got is TV5 which shows news broadcasts from various French speaking channels in Belgium, France, Switzerland, etc. None of them have addressed why there was such a prolonged siege, other than obviously to try and take him alive. I would ask why the window wasn't blocked up, and just gas him. Once he was knocked out, they could have safely entered. They had already done scans of the building, etc. The technology is there to send in robots with cameras to see if he had wired his apartment with explosives. Just think it was a wasted opportunity.
They had to try and get him alive, he could have had explosives (a very logical theory) and in that case would have blown everyone to pieces the moment they stormed the flat. That would have made a martyr of him and possibly created so many knock-on problems across France. I think it was handled very well, I know French TV isn't easy for everyone to follow but the coverage given and interviews with psychologists and other experts explained exactly what was happening and why and it all made perfect sense. Not sure if the same was done in anglo-saxon coverage, don't know because I only watch, listen and read French coverage (not biaised, I just haven't got time or need for both) Yes he clearly said he was an al qaeda member, he'd been on training camps in Pakistan and Afganistan, he was already under police surveillance but they hadn't linked the military killings to him, it was only after the school killings and when the scooter dealer came forward saying that someone had been in asking all sorts of questions about the model of scooter he used that they made the link and acted very quickly thus avoiding the further planned killings - he had already chosen his next targets, policemen in Toulouse...
Am I alone in wondering why they spent all that time and money on laying siege to this building for 36 hours, and the net result is three officers injured (one seriously), and the gunman is now dead, so no answers will ever be given - important one would be trying to ascertain if he was a lone nutter or if he actually belonged to Al Qaeda or other organisation???
Yep "at about 12h15 he jumped from the apartment window with a gun in his hand still shooting and was found dead on the ground" according to Caude Géaunt (Midi Libre en direct). A real shame he wasn't taken alive and tried but at least it's over.
Colour shouldn't be an issue but it is. I have no problems here in France but was repeatedly asked if I was English in the UK to the extent that as a French and Italian teacher not only the kids but some other teachers assumed I was either French or Italian because I was a lot darker than them. My ex-girlfriend who was a typically white/blond German said that if we ever lived in Germany I'd probably get taken for a Turk (their main immigrant group) and suffer racism...!
The official line is to always wait. He has no hostages, it is only his life at stake, they have all the time in the world, so why not take it.
Well said Celeste, Sarko isn't holding anything up, if the gunman won't give himself up and has already sho and injured three gendarme you can't decide for him - you simply have to keep trying to talk him out which could take ages but that'll be better than making him a martyr for the reasons Celeste has detailed.
Thank you, Georgiana, for pointing this out.
Jane, I agree with what you have said, and am also much appalled by the extremism you mention. I must observe, however, that Jewish people are typically not "non-white." Also it seems odd to assume that "British or French communities" are non-white, as these are national, not racial, categories. Just thought I'd point this out, as perhaps you hadn't thought it through.
Very worrying Jane, OH will be in Toulouse for the rest of the week but as you say the gunman seems to be targeting non white/european people. I stopped my lessons this morning at 11h00 for the minute’s silence and then had to explain to my Chinese students why I don’t think they should go shopping in Toulouse this weekend - the phrases “walking target” becomes very litteral! IUT where I work has barriers to restrict entry but no more than that and nothing different at my daughter’s village primary school this morning but we’re a couple of hours from Toulouse.
From what we have heard this gunman is trained to a high degree and his targets are all non-white european. He should not pose any threat to the british or french communities, unless thery happen to get in his way.
God is not responsible for the actions of human beings, they operate under their own free will and whatever creed or political belief they hold,unless they are mentally unstable, they and they alone are totally responsible for their personal behaviour.
Extremism of any form is to be abhorred, you only have to see in the USA the actions of the extreme right in murdering people who work in abortion clinics. Also people are voting in the Republican primaries for a candidate who says that if a women becomes impregnated as a result of rape, theat child should be viewed as a gift from God. I find this point of view as appalling as viewing specific racial or religious groups as undesirable.
Here in Burgundy only a couple of years ago our friend, who is a mayor of a local village, was contacted by the french secret service as they believed that ETA was using our area for arms dumps.
We are thinking of you all, as it must be very worrying to have this threat impinging upon your daily life.
Yep there's a huge problem with the regiment but those caught for nazi type behaviour were thrown out - the immediate thought was that it was one of them doing the killing, apparently not, at least one went to the police as a result of the claims to prove his innocence, as for the others...? Or is it just a loan nutter, not so sure as everything is so targeted/specific group. Time will tell, hopefully very very soon. Yes OH will be going to Toulouse anyway, unless things are cancelled and I'll be in the area tomorrow too.
http://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2008/04/03/446151-montauban-rituels-nazis-chez-les-paras-du-17e-rgp.html
This was the same regiment that the murdered soldiers belonged to. There seems to be a huge problem with this regiement that has been ignored by the military