Mohammed Merah, 23, was identified as the man suspected in the methodical killings of seven unarmed people in Toulouse, France, over a period of 10 days in March 2012. He died on March 22 when he jumped out a window, firing a weapon, during a raid and shootout that ended a 30-hour standoff with the police.Mr. Merah was described as a French national of Algerian descent, a former garage mechanic and petty criminal who made two trips to Afghanistan and Pakistan in recent years, and said that he had been trained by Al Qaeda.
Investigators believe the suspect was the motorcyclist behind the killings of three French paratroopers, all of Arab descent, in early March, as well as an attack on March 19 outside a Jewish school that killed a rabbi, two of his young children, and an 8-year-old girl that the gunman held by the hair to execute, pausing to switch to a 9-millimeter gun when his .45 jammed.
On March 25, investigating judges filed preliminary murder and terrorism charges against Mr. Merah’s older brother Abdelkader Merah. The police detained Abdelkader at his home outside Toulouse early on March 21, saying that they suspected him and his brother in the killings.
Although the gunman told the police that he had acted alone, investigators believe that he operated “under the influence of his brother,” a prosecutor said.The preliminary charges of “complicity in murder” and conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism allow a panel of judges more time to investigate whether there is enough evidence to move forward with a case against Abdelkader Merah. He has been jailed pending further investigation.Explosives were found in Abdelkader’s car two days after the school shootings. Through his lawyer, the gunman’s brother denied any wrongdoing.
Mohammed seemed to be another example of the kind of homegrown terrorist, with a European nationality and passport, considered a major security threat in a period when Al Qaeda has largely disappeared as a coherent organization. In the days after his death the police seemed increasingly skeptical of his claims of ties to Al Qaeda; he was described as a troubled young man angered and alienated by conditions in France and his own situation.
On March 30, the police detained 17 people they described as Islamic extremists in raids around the country, but drew no immediate link to the Toulouse killings.The shootings appeared to have a significant effect on the French presidential race, as candidates suspended their campaigns and President Nicolas Sarkozy gained ground by projecting a strong image of firm leadership and resolve.
Stand-off With Police
On March 21, Mohammed barricaded himself in a small apartment building in Toulouse as negotiators tried to secure his surrender. He initially indicated to negotiators that he hoped to live, but then said that he wished “to die with weapons in his hands.”In the first hours of the standoff, he fired several heavy volleys at the hundreds of police officers ringing the building, injuring several, though none seriously. At one point he threw a .45-caliber gun out the window, of the kind used in all the attacks.
The next morning, the police entered the apartment and slowly searched each room using video equipment and fearful of a possible trap. Not finding him in any of the other rooms, they came to the bathroom last. As the police began to inspect the bathroom with the cameras, he burst forth and began firing. More than 300 rounds were discharged during the firefight, and two officers were lightly wounded.
France’s interior minister, Claude Guéant, speaking at the site, said the suspect told negotiators that the attacks were meant to avenge the deaths of Palestinian children and to protest French military deployments abroad.
Mohammed called himself a mujahedeen, or freedom fighter, and had been under surveillance by the French domestic intelligence service for several years, Mr. Guéant said. He became a suspect after investigators traced an IP address used in connection with the killings of the three paratroopers to his mother.
His brother was once linked to a network that sent jihadist fighters to Iraq, the authorities said, but those activities never resulted in criminal charges being brought against him.The police also detained Zoulikha Aziri, the mother of the two men, and Yamina Mesbah, Abdelkader Merah’s wife. Both women were released without being charged.
The bodies of those killed at the school were flown overnight to Israel for burial. They were Rabbi Jonathan Sandler, 30, a religious instructor; his two sons, Arye, 6, and Gabriel, 3; and Miriam Monsonego, 8, the daughter of the school’s principal. Rabbi Sandler was a French citizen; the three children had dual French-Israeli nationality.
After the school shootings, the main candidates in the French presidential campaign, including Mr. Sarkozy, suspended their campaigns as political debate swirled around whether the killings were somehow inspired by anti-immigrant rhetoric.
An Arsenal Powered by Personal Angst
Early investigations by French authorities suggest that Mohammed’s personal angst was at least as important to his evolution into a self-styled jihadist as any terrorist network that might have been available to him. This was true in either the gritty, working-class neighborhoods of Toulouse or in jail, where he spent time for purse snatching and other petty crimes.
While clearly determined and driven at least in part by political grievances, Mohammed may have exaggerated his claims to terrorist training, and certainly did not receive a thorough one if he had any at all, investigators and intelligence experts said. His support network, too, if he had any, seems tenuous or highly personal, they said.
Most of the weapons he used, including three Colt 45s, a Sten and a shotgun, were outmoded weapons dating from World War II that were probably bought illegally on the street. Organized terrorist networks typically use explosives, experts said. Mohammed’s amateurism was also indicated by the fact that he used weapons with different calibers; a trained terrorist would have used guns with the same caliber to avoid having to change bullets during an attack, they noted.
That does not necessarily mean Mohammed acted completely alone. Video footage of the killings, apparently filmed by Mohammed himself, was sent to Al-Jazeera, post-dated March 21, the day before Mohammed was killed. But the video had been edited and manipulated, according to Al-Jazeera, with religious songs and recitations of Koranic verses laid over the footage. It is unclear who sent it, and whether Mohammed knew how to edit video.
Mohammed was buried on March 29 in Toulouse after Algeria refused at the last minute to accept his body for burial there, citing security reasons, said Abdallah Zekri, of the French Muslim Council.
Brother’s Possible Connections to Radical Groups
Investigators have focused particular attention on Abdelkader Merah, Mohammed’s older brother and a pious Muslim who they say had connections with Salafists in Egypt; he was indicted on charges of being an accomplice. The police say Abdelkader helped Mohammed steal the scooter used to escape from the scene of the killings and that he was located by his mobile phone network near the Jewish school several times in the days before the attacks.
Pierre-Henry Brandet, the French Interior Ministry spokesman, said Abdelkader expressed pride in his brother’s acts. He said there were indications that he had also been seeking to radicalize other family members.One of Abdelkader’s lawyers, Chmani Malika, who was present when he was questioned by the police, said Abdelkader denied any involvement and was upset — not proud — about what his brother had done.
The police say they are also investigating whether Mohammed and Abdelkader had links to a militant jihadist network known as the Toulouse group. The group, led by an imam of Syrian descent, was formed in 2006 with the aim of targeting American interests in France and sending recruits to Iraq. Mohammed’s mother is married to Sabri Essid, a member of the group, who investigators say was linked to a Qaeda safe house in Syria in 2006. French officials say Mohammed tried to visit him in prison in 2008.
In 2010, Mohammed traveled to a host of Middle Eastern countries, including Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and Afghanistan, Bernard Squarcini, the head of DCRI, France’s domestic intelligence agency, told Le Monde.
Mr. Squarcini said Mr. Merah met his brother in Egypt, where he was studying in a Koranic school; he was also detained in Jerusalem after he was found in possession of a knife, before being released. He entered Afghanistan, via Tajikistan, and was detained in Kandahar in November 2010, He was then turned over to American forces and sent back to France. He ended up on the no-flight list, a United States database created to monitor potentially dangerous suspects, American officials said.
While in Pakistan in October 2011 on a two-month trip, Mr. Merah called a French intelligence official who had asked to interview him about his travels to the region, telling him he would contact him when he returned to France. After recovering from hepatitis, he finally met with the official, armed with a USB stick with photographs of his travels. He told the agent he had traveled as a tourist to find a wife.
Later, during the standoff with police, he told this same agent, whom he had recently contacted, that he had planned to kill him: “I was going to smoke you,” he said, according to law enforcement officials.
A Petty Criminal Turns Violent
Mohammed’s mother, Zoulikha Aziri, told the police she had lost control over her son, one of five children. When Mohammed was between the ages of 11 and 15, his father was in prison, for selling drugs. By the time he was 17, Mohammed had been charged with nearly a dozen petty crimes, from throwing a stone at a bus to threatening a teacher, according to Christian Etelin, the lawyer who defended him. He recalled that even when Mohammed was 15, he would show up at court appearances alone.
Mr. Etelin said Mohammed’s radicalization probably took root when he was imprisoned for 21 months after he snatched a purse in December 2007. He attributed the shift to Mohammed’s increasing despondency about his future prospects. Friends say he tried to hang himself in jail. In prison, he started to read the Koran, Mohammed told the police.
But even after being released, he seemed still to be trying to find a place where he could serve France and fit in. He applied to the army and the foreign legion, and was rejected by both. He sought work as a mechanic, but no one would employ him, Mr. Etelin said.
It was then, Mr. Etelin said, that Mohammed embarked on his path of violent self-destruction. His rage, he added, might also have been fueled by his divorce from his wife, a young woman of Algerian descent. The two were married on Dec. 15, and the divorce was finalized in the days before his killing rampage began.
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