Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

2 Suspects Arrested in Jewish School Rampage

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 Publisher & CEO 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.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.