French Police at Toulouse Siege
French Police at Toulouse SiegeRetuers

The French interior minister has denied the suspect in several recent shootings has been arrested, following reports on some French media channels.

Claude Gueant said 23-year-old Mohammed Merah, a Frenchman of Algerian origin, had yet to be detained.

The suspect "wants to take revenge for Palestinian children" killed in the Middle East and "has various grievances with the French military," Gueant said earlier on Wednesday.

Merah is holed up in a five-story building that has been surrounded by hundreds of police and evacuated by emergency personnel using fire trucks and ladders.

Earlier, three police officers were wounded in an exchange of fire with Merah, who is believed to have numerous weapons including an AK-47 assault rifle.

Merah is suspected of killing seven people, including four Jews at the Otzar HaTorah school in Toulouse on Monday.

Rabbi Jonathan Sandler, his sons Arieh, 5, and Gabriel, 3, and 8-year-old Myriam Monsenego at Otzar HaTorah in Toulouse were laid to rest in Jerusalem even as police began their siege on Merah's hideout.