Sarkozy on Jewish School Shooting

French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Monday declared a shooting that left four dead outside a Jewish school to be a "national tragedy" and vowed to find the killer. Speaking in Toulouse, the southwestern French city where the killings took place, Sarkozy announced a minute of silence to be observed in all French schools.

Published

over 1 year ago

Categories

World

People

Nicolas Sarkozy

Places

France, Toulouse

Tags

school shooting, jewish school, anti-semitism

Transcript

SHOTLIST <br></br><br></br>MARCH 19, 2012, TOULOUSE, FRANCE. SOURCE: POOL <br></br><br></br>- Sarkozy entering building <br></br><br></br>MARCH 19, 2012, TOULOUSE, FRANCE. SOURCE: POOL <br></br><br></br>SOUNDBITE 1, Nicolas Sarkozy, French president (French, 26 sec): <br></br><br></br>"Today is a day of national tragedy because children have been murdered in cold blood, because a killer entered a school, a Jewish school." <br></br><br></br>MARCH 19, 2012, TOULOUSE, FRANCE. SOURCE: AFPTV <br></br><br></br>- Views of crime scene outside Jewish school, with parents, police officers <br></br><br></br>- Views of emergency vehicles at crime scene <br></br><br></br>MARCH 19, 2012, TOULOUSE, FRANCE. SOURCE: AFPTV <br></br><br></br>SOUNDBITE 2, Parent (man) (French, 10 sec) <br></br><br></br>"A catastrophe. How could this be allowed to happen? How can a man be allowed to come and kill children outside school doors? It's not right." <br></br><br></br>MARCH 19, 2012, TOULOUSE, FRANCE. SOURCE: AFPTV <br></br><br></br>- Families waiting outside school <br></br><br></br>MARCH 19, 2012, LYON, FRANCE. SOURCE: AFPTV <br></br><br></br>SOUNDBITE 3, Alain Jakubowicz, President, League against Racism and Anti-Semitism (French, 19 sec) <br></br><br></br>"At some point we'll be able to say whether the motive for this was really exclusively anti-Semitic. It's clear that anti-Semitism must be part of the motive of the madman or scum who committed this act. I call him that because only a madman or scum could have done this." <br></br><br></br>MARCH 19, 2012, TOULOUSE, FRANCE. SOURCE: AFPTV <br></br><br></br>- Families, children waiting outside school <br></br><br></br>MARCH 19, 2012, TOULOUSE, FRANCE. SOURCE: POOL <br></br><br></br>- Police officers <br></br><br></br>MARCH 19, 2012, TOULOUSE, FRANCE. SOURCE: POOL <br></br><br></br>SOUNDBITE 4, Nicolas Sarkozy, French president (French, 19 sec): <br></br><br></br>"In this republic, you don't just kill children without with impunity. Whoever did this needs to understand that everything, absolutely everything will be done to find him and have him answer for his acts." <br></br><br></br>MARCH 19, 2012, TOULOUSE, FRANCE. SOURCE: AFPTV <br></br><br></br>- Families, police officers outside school <br></br><br></br>AFP TEXT STORY <br></br><br></br>France-crime-school-Jews-Sarkozy,2ndlead-REAX <br></br> Sarkozy declares Jewish school shooting 'national tragedy' <br></br> ATTENTION - UPDATES, ADDS quotes /// <br></br><br></br> TOULOUSE, France, March 19, 2012 (AFP) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Monday declared a shooting that left four dead outside a Jewish school to be a "national tragedy" and vowed to find the killer. <br></br> Visiting the scene of the killings in the southern city of Toulouse, Sarkozy announced a minute of silence in all French schools on Tuesday and said the state would throw its entire weight behind the investigation. <br></br> "We should not back down in the face of terror," he said, his voice cracking as he paid tribute to the parents and school authorities. "Barbarism, savagery, hate must not win. The Republic is much stronger than that. <br></br> "You cannot murder children like this on the territory of the Republic without being held to account," he said. "Today is a day of national tragedy." <br></br> "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," he said, adding that all Jewish and Muslim schools in the region would see increased security measures. <br></br> Sarkozy said his interior minister, Claude Gueant, would remain in Toulouse for as long as it takes to get to the bottom of a series of three shootings in the Toulouse area that he now believes are linked. <br></br> Children aged three, six and 10, and a 30-year-old religious education teacher were mown down as they arrived for class at the Ozar Hatorah school in Toulouse, by a killer who arrived on a motorbike with two pistols. <br></br> On March 11 an off-duty French paratrooper was shot dead in a similar attack, by an assailant also mounted on a motorbike and wielding a large .45 calibre automatic pistol. <br></br> On Thursday three more paratroopers, based this time in nearby Montauban, were shot while standing at a cash machine near their barracks. Two were killed and one badly wounded, by an attacker using the same gun. <br></br> "We are struck by the similarities in the method used, but we must await the result of the judicial inquiry," said Sarkozy. "He who did this should know that everything will be done to bring him to account." <br></br> Anti-terror police have taken over the inquiry and the French presidential election race has been effectively suspended, with both right-winger Sarkozy and his Socialist rival Francois Hollande deciding to visit the school. <br></br> lal-ap/dc/rm/mb <br></br>