In March 2012 local Islamic extremist Mohammed Merah opened fire at a Jewish school in Toulouse , killing a teacher and three children . One of the children , an eight-year-old girl , was shot in the head at point-blank range and a 17-year-old boy was critically wounded . President Nicolas Sarkozy called it an " obvious " antisemitic attack : " I want to say to all the leaders of the Jewish community , how close we feel to them . All of France is by their side . " The Israeli Prime Minister condemned the " despicable anti-Semitic " murders . After a 32-hour siege and standoff with the police outside his house followed by a raid , Merah jumped off a balcony and was shot in the head and killed . Merah had told police during the standoff that he intended to continue attacking , and loved death as the police loved life . He claimed a connection to al-Qaeda
opened fire at a Jewish school
Toulouse and Montauban shootings
History of Toulouse