2 Suspects Arrested in Jewish School Rampage

Image by getty images

By JTA February 27, 2013

French police arrested two men in Toulouse on suspicion that they helped Mohammed Merah murder four Jews and three French soldiers last year.

French authorities arrested the two separately on Tuesday, according to Le Monde. .

Merah, a 23-year-old radical Muslim, killed a rabbi and three children in a pre-planned attack on the Otzar Hatorah Jewish school, now Ohr Hatorah, in Toulouse on March 19, 2012. The slayings came a few days after Merah gunned down three French soldiers in two drive-by shootings from a scooter near Toulouse. He was shot dead on March 22, 2012 by police as they stormed his home.

French police have arrested and released several people and questioned dozens in connection with the shootings. The only person in custody besides the two men who were arrested on Tuesday is Mohammed Merah’s brother, Abdelkader Merah. He denies having anything to do with the shootings but police believe he was with his brother when they stole a scooter which Mohammed Merah used to escape after the shootings.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO