TOULOUSE, France (AP) — Prosecutors in Toulouse (tuh-LOOS'), France are waving off French media reports that a gunman who took four bank employees hostage had ties to al-Qaida.
French police stormed the bank today and captured the gunman, who claimed he was acting for religious reasons.
The incident jarred a nation still reeling from a terrorist shooting rampage that killed seven earlier this year in the same region.
The hostages in Toulouse were released unharmed, while the suspect was hospitalized with two bullet wounds in the left hand and the left thigh -- neither of which is life-threatening.
A prosecutor says indications are that the gunman has "considerable psychological problems."
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APPHOTO BOB104: A policeman looks at a bullet hole at the CIC bank where a man held hostages, in the southern French city of Toulouse, Wednesday, June 20, 2012. A gunman who authorities say had past psychiatric problems took four people hostage Wednesday in a bank in the southern French city of Toulouse, claiming he was acting for religious reasons. (AP Photo/Bob Edme) (20 Jun 2012)
<<APPHOTO BOB104 (06/20/12)>>
APPHOTO TOU110: Elite police officers unload items next to a bank where a man took hostages in the southern French city of Toulouse, Wednesday, June 20, 2012. A gunman who authorities say had past psychiatric problems took four people hostage Wednesday in a bank in the southern French city of Toulouse, claiming he was acting for religious reasons. (AP Photo/Bruno Martin) (20 Jun 2012)
<<APPHOTO TOU110 (06/20/12)>>
