France shootings suspect holed up in building
A gunman claiming al-Qaida links and suspected in the killings of three Jewish schoolchildren, a rabbi and three paratroopers barricaded himself in an apartment building Wednesday. He is surrounded by hundreds of police officers and has stopped talking to negotiators.
An early morning police raid to arrest the 24-year-old Frenchman of Algerian descent erupted into a firefight. Three police officers were wounded, Interior Minister Claude Gueant said. After hours of trying to persuade him to surrender, police evacuated the five-story building, escorting residents out by the roof and fire truck ladders.
The suspect told police he belonged to al-Qaida and wanted to take revenge for Palestinian children killed in the Middle East, Gueant said. The suspect also said he was angry about French military intervention abroad, and had spent time in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Gueant said.