Interior Minister Claude Gueant said Merah, a 24-year-old French national of Algerian origin, had broken off contact with police negotiators shortly before midnight, vowing to shoot any police officers who came near. Earlier, during marathon conversations with police, Merah had freely acknowledged killing the soldiers, rabbi and children in three separate attacks.

Two gunshots were heard inside Merah’s apartment in the early hours of Thursday morning, Gueant said, generating speculation that the young extremist might have committed suicide.

But when heavily armed paramilitary police entered the apartment through the door and several windows about 10:30 a.m., Gueant said, Merah burst out of the bathroom, blasting away with several weapons. After sweeping the apartment with gunfire, the minister added, Merah jumped out of an open window “and he was found dead on the ground below.”