19/03/2012 President
Strasbourg, 19.03.2012 – Following the shooting which took place outside a secondary school in Toulouse, in which four people, including three children, died, Jean-Claude Mignon, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), made the following statement:
“I am horrified by this cowardly and despicable act which cost the lives of three children and one of their young teachers at a school in Toulouse. Early indications suggest that there could be a direct link with the shootings which claimed the lives of three soldiers last week in Toulouse and Montauban.
At this tragic time, and on behalf of the Parliamentary Assembly, I would like to convey our sincere condolences to the families of the victims. Nothing in the world can justify the abhorrent, carefully premeditated killing of innocent children, a cowardly act if ever there was one.
I also express our full support for the French security forces in their efforts to ensure that the perpetrator or perpetrators of these heinous acts are very quickly caught and brought to justice.” They will also need to establish whether this is the work of a demented person, or whether its motive is antisemitic.