Tragedy at Jewish School in France

Tragedy at a French school yesterday.

A gunman on a motorbike killed four people (including one teacher and three children, aged three, six, and 10) at a Jewish school in Toulouse.

Three other children were critically injured in the shooting which occurred around 8am as children were dropped off at the Lyceé Ozar Hatorah. The rabbi who taught at the school was killed, along with two of his sons and the headmaster's daughter.

While police hunt for the killer, a suspect in other recent attacks in the region, the city is under "lockdown"—with safety fences being erected in front of certain schools.

"He shot at everything he could see, children and adults. Some children were chased into the school," said Toulouse prosecutor Michel Valet.

French president Nicolas Sarkozy was headed to the scene. Tuesday was declared a day of mourning, with schools across France expected to observe a minute's silence.

"Whatever happens, faced with this kind of toll, we can say that the French Republic as a whole has been hit by this appalling tragedy," said Sarkozy.

Gilles Bernheim, the Chief Rabbi of France, said the killings "bruised in my body and my soul," while the leader of the Jewish students union of France, Jonathan Hayoun claimed that "anti-Semitic and racist speech has created a climate of insecurity for Jews in France."

The shootings follow other recent attacks by a gunman riding a black motorbike in Toulouse. In one incident, two French paratroopers of North African heritage were shot near a cash machine. Police linked the shooter in the death of another soldier in the area, after ballistics reports said the same gun had been used.

It's not clear whether the incidents are related, though witnesses reported seeing a black motorbike in the area, according to Le Monde.

Sadly, it's not the first time Jewish schools have been targeted in France. In 2009 aerosol cans soaked in petrol were hurled at a Jewish school in Marseille, and in 2005 acid bottles were fired at a Jewish school in Paris.

Let's hope France takes measures to promote racial tolerance and to safeguard its most precious resource: children.