Toulouse Shooting: 'Neo-Nazi' Soldier 'Turns Himself In For Questioning'

'Neo-Nazi' Soldier 'Turns Himself In For Questioning' Over Toulouse Shooting

A former soldier accused of being a neo-Nazi has reportedly turned himself in for questioning over the shootings that have shaken the French town of Toulouse.

According to reports the man, who has not been named, presented himself to police on Tuesday morning.

It was not possible to independently confirm the man's identity.

According to the Daily Mail the man was one of three soldiers from France's 17th Parachute Engineers regiment who were photographed giving a Nazi salute in front of a swastika in 2008.

Separately Le Monde reported that one of the men left the army in 2005 before the photo came out. Another joined another regiment and left the army in 2011, while a third left the regiment in 2008 but is still in the army in another part of the country.

Police were said to be seeking the men in connection with the fatal shootings of three children and an adult outside a Jewish school on Monday.

Based on ballistic evidence from the guns used in the attack, police were also linking the men to the shootings of two soldiers from the disgraced soldiers' former regiment on 15 March and another soldier on 11 March.

France’s Le Point news magazine said: “This is the first real lead the police have. [It is believed] there could be a link to the three soldiers dismissed from the army four years ago.

"The profile of these men corresponds to the scant information investigators have on the Toulouse killer, that is to say, muscular and tattooed.

"This lead is being followed up by both civilian and military authorities.”

French president Nicolas Sarkozy said there were “similarities” between the shootings, but said the country must wait for police to carry out their investigations before the “hypothesis” could be confirmed.

Interior minister Claude Guéant said that the police had looked at suspects with far-right views who "might have a spirit of revenge", but added that there were many other lines of inquiry.

View Toulouse Shooting in a larger map

Close

What's Hot