A gunman on a motorcycle shot and killed three students and a teacher at a Jewish school in the Toulouse region of France. The man is thought to be responsible for two previous attacks on minorities that have occurred within the past 10 days.

One of the guns used Monday was also used in killings of French soldiers of north African origin who were shot and killed on March 11 and March 15, said Elisabeth Allannic, a spokeswoman for judicial authorities in Paris. A court in Paris on Monday opened an investigation into all three killings, under anti-terrorism powers.

The shooter arrived at the Ozar Hatorah school before 8 a.m. and began firing on students. The victims were a father and his two children, and the daughter of the school director. A 17-year-old was also wounded in the shooting.

French President Nicolas Sarcozy spoke Monday night, saying that the region would be on the highest possible security alert, and that "everything must be done so the killer is arrested." The Interior Ministry has also reached out to Jewish organizations "to arrange increased vigilance," in light of an attack that was almost certainly motivated by anti-Semitism.

Abraham Foxman, national director of the New York-based Anti-Defamation League, said that Jewish people had just as much reason to be vigilant before Monday's attack as after, given some people's anti-Semitism. He said he was "shocked, saddened but unfortunately not surprised" by the Toulouse shooting, which he felt was "targeted to express hatred against Jews."

According to BBC News, police are currently engaged in "one of the biggest manhunts in recent French history."

[Image via AP]