According to authorities, the gunman, while French, has claimed he has ties to al Qaeda and to be a Jihadist... furthermore he says his actions are acts of revenge for the killing of Palestinian children. While police are not sure about his al Qaeda claims, they do know he belongs to a little-known group called Forzane Alizza (Knights of Glory) - the group was banned in January for trying to recruit people to fight against coalition forces in Afghanistan.
In addition to the killings at the Jewish school, the suspect is also linked to the murder of three soldiers returning from combat in Afghanistan.
During the standoff, the suspect threw a hand-gun out of the house, but at last report he still has several automatic weapons inside the house.