French Police sniper kills gunman responsible for Jewish school and soldier shootings - Polidicks

[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17473207[/url] [quote=BBC News][b]A police sniper shot and killed the gunman who carried out a spate of murders in southern France, prosecutors say, after a 32-hour siege in Toulouse.[/b] Mohammed Merah, 23, who claimed to have al-Qaeda training, opened fire on police commandos after they stormed into his flat at 09:30 GMT. Prosecutors said he was shot in the head as he tried to flee. Merah carried out three separate attacks, killing four people at a Jewish school and three soldiers. He had said he was acting to "avenge Palestinian children" and protest against French military interventions overseas. Prosecutor Francois Molins confirmed in a news conference that a police marksman had killed Merah as he tried to jump out of the bathroom window. "The examination of the body shows that he was shot in the head and that he was wearing a bullet-proof vest," Mr Molins said, "and had a gun covered by a pair of jeans." "Material to make Molotov cocktails were found on his balcony." Mr Molins said a Colt 45 handgun was found next to his body, and he estimated that Merah had fired 30 bullets as the commandos broke in. The prosecutor also confirmed that Merah had filmed all three of the attacks that he carried out. Earlier President Nicolas Sarkozy said in a televised address that everything had been done to try to bring Merah to justice, but it was decided that no more lives could be put at risk. He also vowed a new crackdown on those who visited "hate or terrorism" web sites or travelled abroad to be indoctrinated in terrorism. [b]Arms cache[/b] Interior Minister Claude Gueant said officers had thrown grenades and entered by the door and windows of the flat. After surveying the scene and finding no sign of the suspect, they went towards the bathroom, moving slowly as they were wary of booby-traps. When officers tried to find out if there was anyone in the bathroom, the suspect came out firing several weapons. Mr Gueant said the suspect was "shooting very violently. The bursts of gunfire were frequent and hard". He said one of the officers involved told him "he had never seen such a violent assault". Two officers were reported wounded in the attack. Before police went in, officials had warned that Merah was armed with a Kalashnikov high-velocity rifle, a mini-Uzi 9mm machine pistol, several handguns and possibly grenades. The authorities set off several explosions overnight to intimidate Merah. Street lights were switched off in the vicinity of the building on Wednesday evening and surrounding areas evacuated. In his TV address, Mr Sarkozy announced an investigation into whether Merah had accomplices and into possible Islamist indoctrination practices in prisons. "The French should not give rein to anger," he said. "Our Muslim compatriots have nothing to do with the crazy actions of a terrorist. We should not embark on any stigmatisation." Merah, of Algerian descent, claimed to have received al-Qaeda training in Pakistan's Waziristan area, and also said he had been to Afghanistan. Commentators have criticised the intelligence services for failing to track Merah closely enough. But Mr Gueant defended their record, saying intelligence agencies track many extremists, but such isolated cases were very difficult to defend against. "These so-called lone wolves are formidable opponents," he said. [b]Video footage[/b] The killings took place in and around Toulouse in three separate incidents earlier this month. On 11 March, a soldier was shot and killed while waiting to see a man about selling his motorcycle. Days later, two soldiers were shot and killed and a third was wounded while waiting at a cash machine. Then earlier this week, three children and an adult were shot and killed outside a Jewish school. Mr Molins said the authorities had recovered videos from Merah's apartment showing the attacks. "These films are extremely explicit, as we were able to verify yesterday, in which evidently we see him during his encounter with a soldier who he shot twice, saying to him: 'You kill my brothers, I kill you'," said Mr Molins. "Then we also see him killing the soldiers in Montauban in an extremely violent scene, fleeing on his scooter whilst shouting 'Allahu akbar' [God is great]." Mr Molins said there was also footage of the school massacre, and added that all of Merah's conversations with negotiators during the siege had been recorded and would be used in the forthcoming inquiry.[/quote]

Should've died a long & painful way. He got off too easy. At [img]http://www.facepunch.com/fp/ratings/box.png[/img]'s: I'd like someone sitting in strict [B]permanent[/B] security rather than one guy getting "permanent" jail for 20 years and then run off do the same again. Dunno why that is a dumb idea.

Seems unclear to what extent he was involved with al-Qaeda, will be interesting to see what comes of that

[quote]fleeing on his scooter whilst shouting 'Allahu akbar' [God is great].[/quote] i honestly want to know why this is shouted so much, is there a Western equivalent that isn't used anymore?

-snip

[QUOTE=DiCiSpitfire;35246501]God damn hardscopers.[/QUOTE] Are you- really? wow.

[QUOTE=Sharq;35246500]i honestly want to know why this is shouted so much, is there a Western equivalent that isn't used anymore?[/QUOTE] I laughed out loud at the thought of him riding away screaming Allahu akbar from his shitty little scooty puff jr

[QUOTE=Sharq;35246500]i honestly want to know why this is shouted so much, is there a Western equivalent that isn't used anymore?[/QUOTE] It's Arabic, and the Qur'an is written in Arabic, so they say 'God is great' in Arabic.

People say "god damn it" when they don't like something so saying "god is great" when you like something isn't all that shocking

Kind of glad they shot. Knowing how French justice works, he'll have gotten out in 25 years.

I'm not glad that he got killed, but I am glad that he got stopped. It is unfortunate(but understandable considering the circumstances) that they were unable to arrest him though.

[QUOTE=Shitbird;35246636]I'm not glad that he got killed, but I am glad that he got stopped. It is unfortunate(but understandable considering the circumstances) that they were unable to arrest him though.[/QUOTE] Why would you want to arrest this piece of shit? he murdered 7 people, bastard deserves getting his head ventilated.

[QUOTE=SpaceGhost;35246671]Why would you want to arrest this piece of shit? he murdered 7 people, bastard deserves getting his head ventilated.[/QUOTE] And of course facepunch gives out dumbs like candy anyone thinks its wrong that someone be killed for their crimes.

[QUOTE=SpaceGhost;35246671]Why would you want to arrest this piece of shit?[/QUOTE] I think it would have been preferrable for him to answer for his crimes in front of a court of law. I'd just like to see these sorts of situations FOR ONCE get resolved without any further bloodshed. As I said though, it is fully understandable and justifiable that they shot him and the police are in no way in the wrong here. [QUOTE=SpaceGhost;35246671]he murdered 7 people, bastard deserves getting his head ventilated.[/QUOTE] Nah, that's just being bloodthirsty.

The guy had shot two officers and was still shooting, and it's a revelation that he [i]didn't[/i] have any bombs or booby traps, they were absolutely justified in shooting him I like a clean arrest as much as anyone but you'd have to be retarded to call the police out on this

[QUOTE=Jetblack357;35246689]And of course facepunch gives out dumbs like candy anyone thinks its wrong that someone be killed for their crimes.[/QUOTE] Because Facepunchers usually think criminals should be shot, hanged, burned alive, drowned, skinned etc. Edit: Sorry, I meant those who believe they should be killed, as they often throw out some pretty idiotic suggestions.

[QUOTE=Marbalo;35246747]murdering murderers is not the solution[/QUOTE] so put them in jail and let them live their life after taking several others real smart strategy there, bucko. How about we just let child molesters and rapists walk off scot free huh?

[QUOTE=Carne;35246798]Because Facepunchers usually think criminals should be shot, hanged, burned alive, drowned, skinned etc.[/QUOTE] It seems to me that is hardly the case. About 80% of FP'ers think Hitler should have been rehabilitated.

[QUOTE=SpaceGhost;35246671]Why would you want to arrest this piece of shit? he murdered 7 people, bastard deserves getting his head ventilated.[/QUOTE] Because human rights are universal. Everyone has a right to a fair trial, not "everyone [I]except x[/I]" [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anders_Behring_Breivik[/url] See this guy? He killed 77 and injured 151 people in cold blood and yet he's in jail awaiting trial. Why? Because Norway respects its own laws and human rights. (And also hasn't (as far as I know) made any significant law changes just because of the attack that would limit freedom, but that's a different topic already)

[QUOTE=SatansSin;35246803]How about we just let child molesters and rapists walk off scot free huh?[/QUOTE] [img]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FOIrYyQawGI/TC0thVs0DoI/AAAAAAAAC3w/AfRWy2zTqPo/s1600/StrawMan.jpg[/img]

[QUOTE=Murkrow;35246849]Because human rights are universal. Everyone has a right to a fair trial, not "everyone [I]except x[/I]" [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anders_Behring_Breivik[/url] See this guy? He killed 77 and injured 151 people in cold blood and yet he's in jail awaiting trial. Why? Because Norway respects its own laws and human rights. (And also hasn't (as far as I know) made any significant law changes just because of the attack that would limit freedom, but that's a different topic already)[/QUOTE] Breivik immediately surrendered to police when they caught up with him on Utoya Merah shot at police officers inside his apartment, wounded two of them and tried to escape Can you not see the difference? If Breivik had started shooting at the police do you think they would have just stood there and "respected his human rights"? Edit: I'm not sure I understood your post actually, were you arguing against someone who basically said he should have been summarily executed? If so I agree with you

[QUOTE=Rebi;35246846]It seems to me that is hardly the case. About 80% of FP'ers think Hitler should have been rehabilitated.[/QUOTE] Sorry, I meant those who believe they should be killed, as they often throw out some pretty idiotic suggestions.

How did they shoot him in the head? If I was in that situation I would not go to a window. Reminds me of this: [video=youtube;nxuAmfUpBA8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxuAmfUpBA8[/video]

[QUOTE=smurfy;35246880]Breivik immediately surrendered to police when they caught up with him on Utoya Merah shot at police officers inside his apartment, wounded two of them and tried to escape Can you not see the difference? If Breivik had started shooting at the police do you think they would have just stood there and "respected his human rights"?[/QUOTE] I'm fairly sure he means IF they caught him alive. If Breivik had shot at the police they would have killed him, but he didn't so they're giving him a fair trial. People here suggest he should have been killed no matter what happened.

The RAID is always attempting diplomacy as much as possible, so if the guy got shot, it's really because they didn't have any other choice.

[QUOTE=Carne;35246909]I'm fairly sure he means IF they caught him alive. If Breivik had shot at the police they would have killed him, but he didn't so they're giving him a fair trial. People here suggest he should have been killed no matter what happened.[/QUOTE] I think I made a dumb post, I misunderstood wtf was going on Ignore me

[QUOTE=SatansSin;35246803]so put them in jail and let them live their life after taking several others real smart strategy there, bucko. How about we just let child molesters and rapists walk off scot free huh?[/QUOTE] Straw... everywhere

[QUOTE=Marbalo;35246747]murdering murderers is not the solution[/QUOTE] Not when it comes to shitbirds like this guy.

[QUOTE=smurfy;35246929]I think I made a dumb post, I misunderstood wtf was going on Ignore me[/QUOTE] No, it's okay, and I agree the killing was justified. This was a crazy man who had already killed people and was trying to kill the police.

[QUOTE=Carne;35246798]Because Facepunchers usually think criminals should be shot, hanged, burned alive, drowned, skinned etc.[/QUOTE] No, just a few of the people here. Though I do agree with Spaceghost, this man did deserve to have his brains blown right out of his head.