Serial killer fears after Jewish school shooting

France was gripped by fears of a serial killer on the loose after a gunman opened fire at a Jewish school, killing a teacher, his two sons and another child.

It was the third such deadly attack in a week by a man on a motorbike.

The children, aged three, six and 10, and the 30-year-old religious education teacher, who was also a rabbi, were mowed down as they arrived for class at the Ozar Hatorah school in Toulouse, officials said.

President Nicolas Sarkozy said the attack was a “national tragedy” while Israel said it was “horrified” and urged France to quickly bring the perpetrator to justice.

The gunman shot the teacher outside the school in a quiet residential area of the city before one of his weapons jammed and he then entered the school grounds where he sprayed the area with bullets, a local prosecutor said.

“Shortly before eight o’clock (0700 GMT) a man on a powerful scooter or a motorbike dismounted and shot at everything he could see. At children as well as adults,” prosecutor Michel Valet said.

“This individual also chased some children into the school,” Mr Valet said, adding that the school had around 200 pupils.

“I came to the school this morning for prayers,” said six-year-old Alexia. “Five minutes later we heard shots, and we were very afraid. We were gathered in a room and prayed together while we waited for our parents.”

Tearful parents gathered near the school after the shooting, discussing the possible links between the attack and last week’s shooting of three French soldiers.

The 10-year-old who died was the daughter of the school’s director, officials said.

A fifth pupil, a 17-year-old boy, was in critical condition and was being treated in hospital. A nearby Jewish primary school was evacuated after the attack, officials said.

The shooting came just days after two previous attacks in the region by a man on a motorbike who killed three soldiers.

There was no hard evidence of a link between the shootings, but interior minister Claude Guéant said there were “similarities” and police said the same calibre weapon was used in all three attacks.

The gunman initially used a 9mm weapon but it jammed, so he switched to a .45-calibre gun as he went into the school, police said.

A .45-calibre weapon was used in last week’s deadly shootings.

Religious minorities and issues of race have emerged as a prominent issue in France’s current presidential campaign. The paratroopers killed and injured last week were of North African and French Caribbean origin.

Toulouse mayor Pierre Cohen said of yesterday’s shootings: “Everything leads one to believe that these were racist and anti-Semitic acts.”

The rabbi was named locally as Johnathan Sandler, who taught Yiddish at the school. He arrived from Jerusalem last September with his wife and children.

Paris anti-terrorist prosecutors said they have opened up three investigations into yesterday’s attack.

Mr Guéant ordered security to be tightened around all religious buildings in France, which has Europe’s largest Jewish community estimated at up to 700,000 people.

Mr Sarkozy arrived in Toulouse and said he wanted all schools in France to observe a minute’s silence today to honour the victims.

Police in southwestern France launched a major manhunt last week after the killing of three paratroopers and the wounding of another in two separate, but connected incidents.

The perpetrator of both attacks fled on a motorbike.

The head of anti-racism organisation SOS Racisme, Dominique Sopo, said he was “horrified” by the school attack and noted “the similarities between this killing and the murders of several soldiers last week in the southwest”.

Between 50 and 60 police officers, including anti-terrorist specialists, were last week drafted in to investigate the soldiers’ deaths.

Senior military officials have ordered troops based in the region not to wear their uniforms outside barracks.