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Monday 26 March 2012

Toulouse shooting: heartbreaking detail of attack that shocked France and Israel

Heartbreaking details of the coldblooded shooting of three children and a teacher at a Jewish school in Toulouse on Monday has emerged from CCTV footage of a massacre that has caused an outpouring of horror and grief across France.

A woman cries as she stands against the side window of the convoy carrying the coffins, before it leaves the
 
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A woman cries as she stands against the side window of the convoy carrying the coffins, before it leaves the 'Ozar Hatorah' Jewish school after a funeral ceremony in Toulouse, France Photo: AFP
People cry before the funeral convoy carrying the coffins leaves the
 
Image 1 of 2
People cry before the funeral convoy carrying the coffins leaves the 'Ozar Hatorah' Jewish school after a funeral ceremony in Toulouse, France Photo: AFP

The chilling images show how the lone gunman wearing a motorcycle helmet callously hunted down individual children after opening fire at the school gates in an attack that left four dead and a teenager fighting for his life.

Eight-year-old Myriam Monsonego clutched her satchel as the killer chased her through the school gates and into the courtyard. He pulled her towards him by her hair and raised a gun to shoot her.

The video footage appears to show that, at that moment, his gun jammed.

But determined to carry out his killing spree, he kept hold of the girl, changed weapons from what police identified as a 9-mm pistol to a .45 calibre weapon, and delivered a shot to her temple at point blank range.

He then turned, calmly walked out the school gates, mounted a powerful Yamaha scooter and sped away.

Moments later an older pupil carried Myriam's body to her father, Yaacov Monsonego, a rabbi and the principal of the school, who had been praying in the synagogue before the start of class when shots broke out. He cradled his daughter in his arms as the life ebbed from her young body.

The attack began at around 8 o'clock on Monday morning as pupils were dropped off at the school in a leafy suburb of La Roserie, a few miles north of Toulouse city centre. It was over in a matter of minutes.

The first victim was Jonathan Sandler, a 30-year old rabbi and teacher at the Ozar Hatorah school, who was shot outside the school gates as he attempted to shield his two young sons, Aryeh, 6, and Gavriel, 3, from the gunman.

CCTV footage from a camera at the gates reportedly showed that one of the boys was executed as he crawled away on his hands and knees while his father and brother lay dying on the pavement.

A 16-year old pupil with knowledge of first aid, bravely attempted to resuscitate one of the boys, keeping him alive until paramedics arrived.

"A friend and I carried the boy into the school and because I did a first aid course last year I knew to give him mouth to mouth and heart massage," explained the pupil, who gave only his first name, Aaron, in an interview with Sud-Ouest newspaper. "His pulse resumed. He was alive and then paramedics arrived and took over. But later I heard he had died."

Nicole Yardini, who leads the regional branch of CRIF, a national Jewish organisation and has seen the CCTV footage, described it as sickening. "It was like a horror film, something unreal. I can't say more. He shot a little girl in the head in cold blood. When I say it I want to vomit."

France came to a halt at 11 am on Tuesday when a minute's silence was observed in memory of the victims.

President Nicolas Sarkozy, after observing the silence at a school in Paris, described the lone-gun man as a "monster" and vowed to track him down.

"There are beings who have no respect for life. When you grab a little girl to put a bullet in her head, without leaving her any chance, you are a monster. An anti-Semitic monster, but first of all a monster," he said.

"Civilisation cannot guard us from the madness of certain men, from the barbarism of certain men. What strikes me most is the coldness with which he acted," the French leader said.

"This has happened in Toulouse, in a religious school with children from Jewish families, but it could have happened here. The same killer could have come here, these children are exactly like you," Mr Sarkozy told pupils as he attended a silent vigil in a Paris secondary school on Tuesday morning.

"It is so serious a matter that the entire republic must be concerned...for your families and for yourselves. We will do everything to arrest him."

Bouquets of flowers lay at the school gates on Rue Jules-Dalou, Tuesday, interspersed with flickering candles, cuddly toys and poignant messages to the victims from the bereaved community.

Armed police stood on guard at the gates.

The high cement walls of the school were marked with bullets sprayed by the killer and devastation was etched on the faces of those pupils, family and friends who had spent an overnight vigil alongside the coffins of the victims.

The bodies were to be flown overnight to Israel where a funeral will be held on Wednesday.

The Ozar Hatorah school of 200 pupils was expected to reopen on Wednesday.

"The children are in shock but they need to come together here, to together undergo catharsis," said local Jewish leader Arie Bensemhoun, adding that the school would get back on its feet quickly "even if the blood has not yet dried."